


[~A Double Agent Of Love~]

by noturprxtxg



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Background DICE (Dangan Ronpa), D.I.C.E Au, DICE Au, DICE Member Oma Kokichi, F/F, F/M, I tried my best, M/M, im sorry if some things dont make sense, pls dont hate me haha, this is my first time writing a dr fic and publishing it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:29:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25785907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noturprxtxg/pseuds/noturprxtxg
Summary: Shuichi Saihara works as a detective intern at Hope's Peak Detective Agency. One after another he gets assigned these cases relating to a vigilante group called D.I.C.E, famous all across Japan for doing the government's job for them.Saihara finally decides he needs to become a part of the problem to solve it. He meets King, the leader of D.I.C.E, and falls in love.Little does he know that King is one of his best friends, Kokichi Ouma, and Kokichi is in love with Shuichi Saihara but both are clueless as to each others identity.
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede & Oma Kokichi, Akamatsu Kaede & Saihara Shuichi, Akamatsu Kaede/Iruma Miu, Harukawa Maki/Momota Kaito, Kirigiri Kyoko & Naegi Makoto, Kirigiri Kyoko & Saihara Shuichi, Kirigiri Kyoko/Celestia Ludenberg, Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi, kyoko kirigiri - Relationship
Comments: 35
Kudos: 96





	1. Secret Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my first story ever on ao3. I’m very nervous but I’m excited at the same time? Please enjoy and if you have any notes, feel free to drop them in the comments!
> 
> Also, the dagger idea is heavily inspired by @/obsessedfish’s Pair of Dice AU (That I love so much). Please go check out her instagram if you haven’t already.

Shuichi sat at his cluttered desk and tapped his pen to the wood almost restlessly. He had to solve this case, if he didn’t he would be done for. He would lose his internship. His uncle would be disappointed and disown him and-

His thoughts were interrupted by his phone vibrating in his pocket. He stared at the bright screen and the notification from an unknown number.

_“Thank you for your application. We have reviewed it and we would like to question you further. Come to these coordinates without a weapon or a tracking device. Come no later than 8pm.”_

Underneath was a long string of numbers. He put it into his gps and it lead him to,

“The abandoned warehouse??” He was shocked, “That place hasn’t been used in years. Maybe that’s their hideout..” he mumbled and scribbled some notes down in a notepad that was clearly overflowing.

“Did you get a lead?” A voice that sounded more...experienced...wait no more tired said.

“Ah, Kirigiri-San! You startled me.”

“Sorry. I haven’t been eavesdropping...I swear.” She said, sarcastically and took a sip from the piping hot mug in her hands.

He smiled back at her, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing personal. Today I overheard someone in my class talking about how they heard a rumor about D.I.C.E applications. Turns out that rumor was true.” He leaned back in his chair, “I took your advice into account. I’m going to spy on the inside to find out information. I’ll be like a double agent.”

Kirigiri nodded, “How do you know this is legitimate?”

“I don’t.” He looked down, slightly embarrassed, “But they accepted my application. They want me to meet them at the abandoned warehouse near the university at 8 to see if I qualify.”

“I see..” She leaned against the desk, “You know if you get hurt, your uncle will kill me, right?”

He shook his head, “I promise, I’ll be careful. We investigate homicides for crying out loud.”

“True, but we rarely get involved with the culprits. Keep in mind, usually they’re long gone by the time we get to the case. You’re investing it while it’s on going, you need to be on your guard.”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, if anything happens I have the police on speed dial.”

Kirigiri gave him a reassuring smile, “you’re gonna be just fine, kid.” It was interrupted by her name being called over the intercom.

“Miss Kyoko Kirigiri, would you please report to your office? You have a meeting.” Maki repeated twice, she seemed upset about something.

She sighed, “I totally forgot about my appointment with the Yuji’s…” She took another sip of her coffee, “Right, I have to go deal with this but Shuichi, promise me you won’t do anything dumb or get too wrapped up in this? It’s just some stupid case. You’re only an intern and if you need an easier assignment, you can always just ask.”

Shuichi smiled at her, “Yeah I know...I just want to prove I’m as good as the rest of you guys.”

“Shuichi, listen to yourself! You already proved yourself by being here as an intern. We rarely accept them, let alone give them cases.”

“Yeah but it’s only because my uncle is some hotshot that recommended me.”

Kirigiri snorted, “Seriously! Your uncle is laughable at best.” She paused, “oh! No offense…”

“It’s okay, but um, I think you should be getting to your meeting”

“Oh crap!” She ran as fast as she could in her heeled boots to her office and apologized profusely to the couple waiting at the door. He smiled. He was lucky to have someone as caring as Kirigiri mentoring him, but he was glad she was also hard on him. She gave him the opportunity to drop out of cases but he knew he would never hear the end of it...he knew from experience.

~

Kaede held her phone under the school desk and texted out a message to Kokichi,

_“You have a meeting at 8 o’clock sharp! Don’t be late!”_

_“Don’t worry! I’m actually excited to meet them this time :P”_

_“Yeah he seems like a cool guy. Especially with the codename he picked! Joker sounds so mysterious...”_

_“Who do you think he is??”_

_“What?? Do you have a crush on him? Also I thought we were supposed to keep our identities secret.”_

_“Whaaaa! No fair! Plus you know my identity!”_

_“Because you black mailed me into joining!”_

_“Whatever. Pay attention in class Piano geek.”_

Kaede rolled her eyes so hard she thought they would get stuck, _‘He’s such a hypocrite.’_ She thought as she copied the notes from the board into her notebook. Her pen lightly grazed the paper but she couldn’t stop thinking about who Joker was.

 _‘Could it be Shuichi?’_ Her eyes widened. _‘No. He wants to be a detective. That’s so silly, Kaede! Maybe you just want him to join that badly.’_

She struggled to pay attention in class as she questioned the identity of their new member.

~

The clock seemed to go in slow motion. Shuichi couldn’t wait until it struck 7:30. Kirigiri gave him the ok to leave early so that he could make it to this “interview”.

He gathered up his papers, notebooks, the pencil bag and stuffed them into his messenger bag. He threw it over his shoulder and rushed out of the building as soon as he could.

He ran home, he needed an appropriate outfit. Wearing his work clothes would be too obvious.

_Hmmmm_

He finally decided on black combat boots, black ripped jeans with a chain on his hip and a tucked in shirt that was…you guessed it, black.

He put the messenger bag up on the hook by the door and noticed that his roommate, Kaede, was gone. He found a note on the kitchen counter.

_Sorry Shuichi! I had a parent reschedule a private lesson. There’s leftovers in the fridge that you can heat up, don’t burn the house down!_

She signed it with her name and a couple of hearts. He smiled warmly at the note, she was always so kind. He was lucky to have a best friend like her.

He rushed out of the house with his phone in his pocket and a dagger around his belt loop. He remembered he didn’t know if this was legit, and he certainly didn’t know if he was safe or not. So, despite the message's warning not to bring a weapon, he reminded himself he was doing it for his own safety.

Soon he arrived at the entrance to the warehouse. His phone buzzed in his back pocket,

_“Grab the mask near the bottom left corner of the fence and make your way to the roof.”_

It was from the same unknown number. He went searching for the mask and finally found it. He brushed off the dirt and put it in his face.

_‘I guess they really care about keeping their identities hidden...this is going to be tough.’_

The group he was investigating went by the name D.I.C.E. They were a group of vigilantes known all across Japan for being justice to the people without the police interfering. They caught criminals, saved hostages, graffitied messages of encouragement and even entertained the public.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with harmless protests and messages of encouragement but they were carrying out the law enforcements job for them, which was a crime. He had to get to the bottom of who was doing this.

Next, he climbed the rafters all the way up to the top of the building and onto the roof. He couldn’t believe the view. The moon lit up the whole area and it was so breathtaking, Shuichi had to take a second to take it all in.

Suddenly a girl in a pink skirt appeared in front of him,

“Welcome, Joker! I see you’ve made it!” The voice sounds familiar but he had no idea who it was thanks to the mask. It looked almost based off of a cat.

“Joker…?” He questioned, “oh, right! My codename..”

“Really? You forgot that easy...wow..” She seemed hurt.

He tried to fix it, “So is there anyone else here besides me? Applying, of course.”

“Nope!” Her mood changed almost instantly, “We don’t get as many applicants as one might think.” She hopped up onto a fan and swung her legs.

“I see…”

“Of course, King will be here soon.”

“King?” It was another codename.

“Yep! He’s our leader. Man if you applied I thought you would know more. Do you know who I am?” She asked, leaning in close to his face.

“Ah..you’re Ace, right?”

“Yep! If you knew me then you must be a fan! What’s up with not knowing King?”

“I’m just surprised I got here I guess.” He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

She checked her watch, “ugh. I told him to be here at 8! It’s way past then, lazy bastar-“

“Uh-uh! Watch your language Ace, we’ve been over this.” A new voice said.

“Sorry…” she mumbled.

Shuichi looked around for the voice and finally spotted where it came from. A short boy, probably 5 foot tall stood on the very edge of the roof. He knew who it was, that was King. That was the leader Ace was talking about.

He wasn’t a fan of D.I.C.E, no way. But he did know his fair share of knowledge. They started a couple years ago, just when Shuichi entered his junior year of high school. He kept up with them and hoped to get a case involving the group one day, and here he was. Face to face with King.

“Oh but looks like Joker has been naughty…” He sounded sad.

“Wh..what do you mean?”

King walked towards him and spun a dagger around his finger. Not just any dagger...his dagger.

“Wait..how did you?”

“Never underestimate a supreme leader.” He only assumed he was smiling maliciously under his mask, “Now tell us, what were you planning to do with this?”

“I-I swear it was just for self defense! I heard about this from a rumor at school, I didn’t know if it was true or not, I just wanted to be safe!” He covered his face in fear.

King and Ace started laughing, “Come on, King! Don’t scare him off like that!”

“Sorry, we haven’t had someone disobey direct orders like that in a while.”

Shuichi was definitely confused, “Can I..have my dagger back?”

“Hmm, no. I think I’ll give this back the next time we meet. If there is a next time.” The tone turned sinister almost instantly, it creeped the living heck out of him.

“Now pay attention, Joker. I really like you. I want you to be a part of my organization but you cannot just do that for free.”

Shuichi gulped, he still wasn’t used to being called Joker.

“I’m going to give you a mission. You have three days to bring me results. If what you bring me is to my satisfaction, you may become a member of D.I.C.E. If you fail, then you will be turned away.” King looked up at Joker.

“So what...what is it that you want me to do?”

“I want you to bring me every single case file the Hope’s Peak Detective Agency has on D.I.C.E.”

“What??” Shuichi was shocked. He couldn’t do that, he would lose his job.

“What, is there something wrong?” King teased, “is it too hard??”

Shuichi shook his head, “No. I’ll do it. I’ll bring you the case files.”

“You have three days. Meet us back here at the same time. If you tell anyone about this, then we will make sure your life will be hell.” King jumped off the side of the roof.

Shuichi ran after him, “What are you doin-“ He just disappeared in thin air.

“Crazy how he does that, huh?” Ace giggled from behind him.

“Oh my god, I forgot you were here.” Shuichi's chest heaved up and down.

“Haha, yeah. Once King shows up he’s the star of the show.” She shifted her weight nervously.

“Listen...I think you’ll be a really cool member. I have faith in you.” She gave him a thumbs up, “See you in three days Joker!”

She ran off the side of the building, almost exactly like King did.

“Wait! What the hell?!” Shuichi gasped as she fell but she seemed to disappear in thin air as well.

He rubbed his head and checked the time, _‘wow it’s already 9’_. He climbed down the rafters. He definitely wasn’t going to jump like some crazy people he knew.

He couldn’t believe they wanted him to steal files from his own job. They didn’t know but he could get in serious trouble for it. What was he going to tell Kirigiri?

~

“Dontcha think you went a little hard on him? Especially for a first mission?” Kaede pulled the mask off her sweaty face and fanned herself with it.

Kokichi played with the silver dagger in his hand, “Hm. I don’t feel bad for him, he did bring a weapon after all.” He held it up in the moonlight, “Plus, if he really wants to join then he’ll complete this mission with ease. I have a feeling he’ll be useful to us.”

“Whatever. I have to get home, Shuichi is probably waiting for me.” Kaede stuffed her uniform in her school bag.

“Ooh! Say hello to my wonderful Shumai for me!” He almost melted in his seat.

“Why don’t you come with me?” She offered.

“Sorry, I have more important things to do tonight..” He mumbled, but genuinely looked sad.

“Like what?”

“I have to set up our next mission, of course!” He bonked her on the head with his mask, “Silly, Kaede! How could you forget such an important thing!”

She held her hands up in defense, “Sorry, Kokichi! You know I have a lot on my plate as it is..”

“Well maybe if you paid attention during class you wouldn’t have so much to do!”

“Oh shut up, you skip all the time!” Kaede stuck her tongue out at him.

Soon, Kokichi was left by himself. Himself and the dagger. He clutched it in his hand, _‘Please, Joker. Be someone useful. Someone we can trust…’_


	2. So Not Fair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for so much support on the last chapter, it really made me happy and motivated to get a second one out ASAP! :)

Shuichi unlocked the apartment door and flicked the light on. He ran to his room and hid his mask in his closet behind a box of old photos that he had from middle school. 

He went to the kitchen to make food and spotted Kaede passed out on the table, her textbooks spread out in front of her, _‘She over works herself..’_ He grabbed a blanket from the couch and covered her gently with it. 

He sat down next to her with cold noodles, he let her sleep. All she does is study, play piano and teach. She works really hard to accomplish her dream, he was almost jealous of her. 

Kaede and Shuichi had been childhood friends. When Shuichi moved in with his uncle, she happened to be the girl next door. They became best friends and did everything together. Kaede was always there for him, and he was always there for her. When college started, they rented an apartment together, which was the best decision Shuichi's ever made, he likes to believe. 

He cleaned up and spread his case file out on his desk in his room. It was a mess as it was but this was important. 

“What am I going to do..” He sighed as he stared at papers. It was harder than he thought it would be. A lot harder than he thought it would be, actually. He expected this case to go along smoothly but that was definitely not what was happening. 

“Did Kirigiri know this would happen?” He asked himself, “No...no one knows what’s happening with D.I.C.E. She couldn’t have predicted this.” He scribbled down notes about the meeting, which included the place, what happened, the masks, etc. He even wrote down the phone number. Everything was important in a situation like this. 

He sent Kirigiri a message, _“Hey! Don’t worry, the meeting was just a prank. I did get a real lead on the situation though. I’ll need all the D.I.C.E case files next time I come into the office.”_

It hurt, he didn’t know what he would tell Kirigiri when this was over. He knew he would be scolded but this was his one chance to prove himself as a detective. To prove he was good enough. To prove he could solve even a case that stumped senior detectives. 

He grabbed at his hair anxiously, it was stressful. He could lose his job, but he was willing to risk that chance to become the best detective in Japan...no, the world. 

He doubted his abilities. He doubted them a lot. That’s why his uncle made him intern at HPDA. He remembered what his uncle told him, 

_“Son, you’ll only be as good as you think you are. This internship will be good for you. My old friend agreed to watch over you. Pack your stuff, you’ll be leaving tomorrow.”_

He still kept in touch with him. It was his uncle, of course. He raised him when even his parents didn’t. 

_‘I need to get sleep…’_ He took his shirt off and crawled in his bed in his jeans. He really didn’t care, he was just tired. He didn’t even wake up to his alarm or Kaede shouting for him at breakfast.

~

Kokichi sat at his computer, his eyes bloodshot and the dark circles more prominent. He stayed up all night planning their next mission, he even gushed about it to Kaede at 5am. 

Miu kicked the door down and he switched tabs as fast as humanly possible. “What are you looking at? Some freaky porn?” She laughed at her own joke. 

“Shut up, I already know that’s what you do.” 

She stopped in her tracks, her face turned tomato red and she played with her hair, “Ouma…” 

He held up a dismissive hand, “Don’t even. If you have something important to say, spit it out! I’m busy.” 

“Oh um…” She stared at the ground, “what do you think D.I.C.E is planning for their next move? The last thing they did was graffiti the park with messages of encouragement for the elderly in the apartment complex across the street and before that they cleaned up the streets.” She went into full analysis mode. 

“If they're following their usual pattern, then they should have something big planned, right? In the past it was exposing teachers or CEOs of companies but I think they’re planning on something bigger.” Her eyes lit up, “I think they’re going to go straight for Law Enforcement this time.” She laughed, “How's that theory? It’s fuckin’ genius, right!” 

He was shocked. He forgot how smart Miu really was at times. He also forgot that she ran a blog dedicated to D.I.C.E and hosted weekly polls for the public, she even ran and managed a forum. He thought it was ironic that something she dedicated so much of her life to was right in front of her. 

“Oh Miu, you’re so smart. But what if they go for something little this time, to throw the police off their trail?” He asked her. 

“Oh I uh...didn’t think about that.” 

“See! You have to take everything into account. Now get out of my room!” 

She left as fast as she could and shut the door. He opened up his word document that had three words big and bolded at the top, 

_**Target Law Enforcement** _

“Hey, don’t forget you have psych. today!” She yelled from their front room, “I have to go to a lecture but I’ll be back in a couple hours.” 

“Don’t worry, you know I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” He smiled at the thought of going to his psychology class. His beloved was in that class. 

Er,,,his crush was in that class. It was the only class he didn’t skip, just so he could see Shuichi Saihara’s face. They met at the beginning of high school when Kokichi had been messing around with Maki. He was pushing her buttons on purpose, just for a reaction and Maki got up to punch him all the way across the world, probably. 

Shuichi took the punch for him. The entire class was in shock, even Kokichi himself. No one had ever defended him before, he scared people off with his tough, lying demeanor and even if someone tried to get close, he would scare them off with the fact that he doesn’t really take life seriously and or that he supported D.I.C.E back when it was new. 

But nothing scared the detective off. No matter what he said, _“the police are after me!”, “I’m D.I.C.E’s biggest fan”_ , he even straight up told Shuichi he was a member of D.I.C.E but he stayed around and figured they were all lies. He made sure he was never lonely. He helped him study, he helped him get into a college and choose his major. 

He basically owed Shuichi his life. They don’t get to see each other as much as they did because he’s too busy working to be a world class detective or something cheesy like that and that’s why he values his Psychology class. Plus, he would get kicked out of college if he didn’t show up to at least one of his classes. 

He stuffed a notebook in his bag, a bottle of Panta and locked up the apartment, _‘Off to psych I go!’_ He hummed, happily strolling down the sidewalk to the school building. 

“Hey! I haven’t seen you in forever, man!” He was hit on the back by someone much...much stronger than he was. He turned around and pushed them away, 

“Who are you?” He raised an eyebrow and looked at the boy on the ground. 

“Kaito Momota? Remember? We had literally every single class together in High School?” 

“Ohhhh you. I remember you. You were obsessed with the stars and had a huge crush on Maki! Wow, gross.” He gagged and pretended to make himself throw up.

“Are you making fun of Maki roll??” He shoved his finger in the shorter boy's face. Kokichi pushed his finger away. 

“First of all, don’t touch me. Second, I wasn’t making fun of ‘Maki roll’” He said, making air quotes, “Now if you’ll excuse me, you’re going to make me late for class.” 

Kokichi side stepped around Kaito and continued walking, flipping him off as he left. Kaito fought the urge to chase after him but remembered he would also be late if he wasn’t anymore time on someone like him. 

“Such an ass…” Kaito rolled his eyes and walked away. 

~ 

Kaede placed the omelette on the table and called Shuichi’s name for the one hundredth time, _‘How late did he get home last night?’_

She knocked on his door and turned the handle, he was cuddled into his blanket and looked like he was still in his clothes from last night. She shook him awake, “Hey. You have psych in 30 minutes.” 

“hmmm..what?” He rubbed his eyes and sat up, “how late is it?” 

“9:30.” 

“My alarm didn’t go off!” He jumped out of his bed and ran to the bathroom. Kaede smiled at him, _‘He’s so caught up in his detective work that he overworks himself...I’m almost jealous.’_

She glanced at his desk...then glanced again. It was chock full of papers and manila folders filled with confidential cases, “Just a peek..” she whispered to herself and opened the folder at the top. 

_**D.I.C.E’s Identities**_

The words stared her in the face, almost like it was mocking her. Her expression turned sour. She was curious but decided not to read it, it would be suspicious if he walked in on it, right? Plus, they made a deal that she would never look through his cases. He could lose his job over it. They worked with real people and their private information. 

Saihara came back with a towel wrapped around his hips, “Uhm...I have to get dressed so..” 

“Ah! Sorry. I came to tell you that your breakfast is on the table. I have a meeting so I won’t be back until late. Help yourself to the stuff in the fridge.” She waved at him and bounced out of his room, leaving him alone. 

She pulled out her phone and urgently messaged Kokichi, 

_“We have to talk.”_

_“Are you leaving me? How could you Kaede whaaaa!”_

_“No. Saihara was assigned another case involving D.I.C.E. I saw it this morning.”_

_“Oooo! You snooped in his room!”_

_“No! ...it was just a peek.”_

_“Meet me on the school rooftop. We can talk more later.”_

She closed the messages and sighed. “He can’t know. Our identities can’t get out to the public.” She reminded herself as she fished out her mask from under her mattress and placed it in her bag, leaving the apartment alone to Shuichi. 

~

“Shumai~!” He heard Ouma call from across the classroom. He had taken the desk that Kaito usually sat at. 

“Kokichi, isn’t Kaito going to get upset?” Shuichi asked him, scratching his head. “I don’t want you two to fight again.” 

“Oh! Don’t worry about him! I ran into Spaceboy earlier and he doesn’t care!” He grinned. 

“That’s a lie, isn’t it?” 

“I can’t believe you’d accuse me of such a thing!” Fake tears rolled down his cheeks but he abruptly stopped when he noticed Saihara’s not-amused expression, “Of course, nothing gets by you my beloved, does it?” He laughed. “Maybe it’s meant to be?” 

Shuichi laughed, “Yeah, sure. Maybe when pigs fly.” 

Kokichi’s expression wavered. He was hurt, but he promised it wouldn’t get to him, “You're gonna eat your words some day, Shumai.” 

Shuichi walked with his hands in his pockets, the dry air made the heat unbearable but it was only a short walk from campus to the agency. He used his keycard and opened the door. 

“Good Afternoon, Maki!” He wrote his name down on the clipboard, checking in. 

“Afternoon.” She said, upset. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“Mind your business.” She hissed. 

Shuichi held his hands up in retaliation and walked to Kirigiri’s office, he decided if Maki was that upset, he would just leave her be. 

“Ah! Shuichi. I saw your message last night. I pulled all the case files you wanted but why?” She asked him, handing him a heavy stack of papers. He guessed it weighed at least 20 pounds. 

“Ah..” He struggled to adjust to the sudden weight that Kirigiri just added to him, “I might have found a similarity in the D.I.C.E cases. I’ll return these to you tonight.” 

“Ooh! Pray tell, what is it?” 

“Um..” _‘Fuck. That was a lie.’_ He panicked, _‘What would Kokichi do, what would Kokichi do, what would Kokichi do?’_ He kept repeating in his head until he finally made something up. 

“I think they target little things to distract us and if I’m correct then they’re going to go straight for someone big. I might be able to predict who it is.” 

“Is that the lead you were talking about?” 

“Yeah. It was a bunch of kids at my school pulling a prank but I was able to get them to talk. They shared their guesses on the situation.” 

“Just don’t take off with all those classified files.” She reminded him as she picked up the phone and punched a number in. 

He left for his little office in the far corner of the main area. It wasn’t closed in like Kirigiri’s or anything, it was a makeshift cubicle just for him. He appreciated the gesture. 

He snuck into the printing area and made copies of every single piece of paper connected to D.I.C.E. He hoped King would take this because he couldn’t just give him the originals, it would be too suspicious. 

He returned the files to his mentors office and made his way home. Kaede was gone again, but he expected such. She usually was only home at night on the weekends and even then she was busy studying. 

He texted the same unknown number that instructed him to go to the abandoned warehouse, _“I have what you want. I’m willing to meet up tonight to give it to you.”_

~

Kokichi looked down at the ground, his arms crossed, “Does he have any evidence to prove it's us?” He asked his right hand, anxiety tinged his voice. It was worrying that Shuichi had gotten D.I.C.E cases, one after the other. Not only that but he knew how well he was at solving these kinds of things and he would stop at nothing to do so, even if it exposed his friends. 

But would he? Would he expose his friends? He racked his brain with situations where Shuichi would put his friends before his job, but he just couldn’t seem to find one. 

It made him sad but he knew how important it was to Shuichi. He dedicated his whole entire life to solving cases so he slightly understood why. 

Kaede smiled gently, “No. I don’t think he has any evidence. I keep it under wraps. It’s like my dirty little secret.” She giggled. 

He gave her a grin, “good!” 

Kaede’s phone went off, “Ah!” She grabbed at her pocket. Kokichi smiled, “Oooooh! Did you get a text from your boyfriend?” He teased. 

“Ko you know I don’t really do that stuff, I’m too busy.” She pouted. 

“Girl, I’m gonna get you a date someday.” He sighed, “Have you ever dated anyone ever? Do you know what the feeling is like to just sit and cuddle with them while you watch a movie...and you fall asleep in their arms and-“ 

“What, are you speaking from experience or fantasy?” 

Kokichi crossed his arms, “Not funny. I’ll have you know I've been on many dates! People chase after me all the time!” 

“Mhm. Sure.” Kaede clicked on the notification and read through the message, “Looks like Joker has the documents you want.” 

“What?? That fast?” Kokichi was genuinely shocked. “There’s no way.” 

“Unless he has connections to the agency. That could be beneficial.” Kaede pointed out. 

“Ah, that’s right.” 

“He’s also willing to meet right now.” She added. 

“Perfect. Do you have your mask on you?” He pulled his mask, based off of a clown, over his face. 

“Yep!” She started to pull the mask out of her bag but he stopped her, 

“Actually, I want to handle this alone.” 

“Are you sure? What if he brings a dagger again or-“ 

“Do you really think I can’t hold my own? Wow Kaede I thought I could trust you..” 

“No that’s not-“ She was interrupted by his signature laugh. 

“I’m just messing with you. You overwork yourself anyway. Take a break tonight and I’ll message you tomorrow.” He waved at her and left for the warehouse.

~

Shuichi waited atop the warehouse, just like he did the night before. He brought a bag that he’d the case papers. It was so heavy it gave him back pain. He saw King’s figure approaching him in the distance and set the bag down. 

“I saw you earlier than I expected, Joker!” King smiled under his mask, “You’re more useful than I thought.” 

Shuichi frowned, “I was only able to get copies...I hope that’s ok.” 

“Are you kidding me?” King laughed. His laugh sounded familiar. A lot like Ouma’s actually but Shuichi thought it was just a coincidence. There’s no way he would take up a responsibility as big as this one. 

“What do you mean?”

“To be honest, I didn’t even think you would get the papers at all. Copies are perfectly fine.” He laced his fingers behind his head and looked carefree for a second. 

“Oh..they’re all in the bag. You can keep it, I don’t need it.” 

King picked the bag up, struggling a bit and went through all the papers, probably making sure that they were all legit and not just a prank. 

He smiled and walked towards him. Something enclosed in his hand, “Congratulations, Joker. You are officially the newest member of D.I.C.E. We’ll contact you later with everything you need but for now, this pin commemorates your loyalty to this organization.” He pushed the pin into Shuichi’s hand, it was a pair of dice. _‘Oh! I get it because it’s called D.I.C.E and stuff…’_ Shuichi laughed at the implication. 

“Also, check your belt loop.” Shuichi felt his side and there it was, his silver dagger returned right where it was a day ago. 

“How did you do that!?” He was shocked. 

“Why? Do you want me to teach you?” 

“Um…” He thought for a second, “Yeah kinda..” 

King laughed, “Maybe next time Joker. For now I have to go, Buh-bye!” He jumped off the side of the roof, again and Shuichi noticed something in his hand. 

“You took my chain!” He yelled after him, “That’s so not fair!” But King was long gone. 

“Ugh! I’m so gullible.” He left to go home. It was an eventful couple days. He did something he could get fired from his job for and joined an organization that he would be working for as a double agent. 

He laid in his bed, his eyes fixated on the ceiling. He thought about if his younger self would be proud of him and he concluded that he would. Just for making it this far and for being so dedicated to his job. 

_‘Yeah..I would have to be proud…’_ He rolled over in his bed and fell asleep. 

  
  
  



	3. The First Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys! I'm back with Chapter 3, yayyyy! I really enjoyed writing Kokichi for this one so I hope y'all like it as much as I do :). Enjoy!

Shuichi woke up to his phone being blown up with texts, 

_ “Good morning, Joker! It’s King :p”  _

_ “The way D.I.C.E works is we do virtual meetings and once a year we all gather together and have a potluck celebration, and because you’re now a member, you’re invited! We’ll be talking about that tonight.”  _

He kept explaining random things, like how missions would work, how video calls worked, the rules of D.I.C.E. 

_ “Absolutely no murder! That’s a hard rule. 2, I hate liars, so no lying! And finally, keep your identity a secret and always wear your mask :)”  _

Shuichi sighed and turned over in his bed, leaving the phone alone. Right now, D.I.C.E was the last thing he wanted to deal with. Especially on his off day. He could hear Kaede talking with someone in the dining room. 

“Listen, we need to be quieter, Shuichi’s sleeping in the other room, y’know,” Kaede told the guest in a stern voice. 

“Shumai is still sleeping at 1pm???” He knew who it was just from the nickname. It was Kokichi Ouma, one of his other friends. 

He met him in high school after he took one of Maki’s punches for him. If he recalled correctly he didn’t know why he defended Kokichi. Maybe it was because he felt bad for him? He seemed lonely so.

After a while, Kokichi kept following him around. They became closer but the closer he got to him the more he noticed Kokichi would try to push him away. He lied...a lot but because of Shuichi’s detective skills, he’s usually able to tell when he lies. Plus, he also noticed he would mess with his checkered scarf when he lied. It was his “tell” of sorts. 

He checked the time on his phone, “Oh...it really is 1.” He grumbled and rolled out of bed, rubbing his watering eyes. He didn’t feel like doing anything. He  _ still  _ was having trouble processing his new loyalty to D.I.C.E. 

Shuichi stumbled into the living area, “Good morning, Kaede” He waved, “I’m sorry I didn’t wake up earlier.” He seemed to be directing that at Kokichi. 

“I can’t believe you’re that disrespectful! Towards your best friend, even..” Kokichi pouted, but he knew the boy was joking. 

Kaede sighed, “C’mon Ko, you know how hard he works.” 

“Yeah but that doesn’t mean he has the right to be rude!” Shuichi left them to their friendly banter and went to make himself food. 

He noticed they were short on groceries, “Crap!” 

“What’s wrong?” Kaede called. 

“I forgot to pick up groceries last night” He grabbed at his hair...again. He had been so caught up in his work that he forgot to do something as basic as remember the food. 

“It’s ok! I know you’re busy. Me and Ko will go to the store and you can stay here and enjoy yourself for a bit! It is your day off after all.” 

“What!? I didn’t agree to thi-” Kokichi was cut off by Kaede yelling “Bye” and the sound of keys jingling. 

_ ‘Great. I gave Kaede more work than she needs.’  _ He mentally punched himself in the gut as he grabbed an apple and took a bite out of it.  _ ‘I guess I can go look at a case or something..’  _ He closed himself in his room. 

~

  
  


Kaede bounced as she walked down the concrete sidewalk, Kokichi in tow. 

“I wish you wouldn’t have dragged me along with you” He pouted. He seemed awfully grumpy today. 

Kaede shook her head and lowered her voice, “Listen, we haven’t done anything together in forever, outside of D.I.C.E. I want to do something with you, even if it’s just shopping.” She grabbed a basket next to the entrance and swung it around. 

“That’s fair. You seem to be happy today, did something happen? Did something dirty happen?” Kokichi pressed, far too loud in the middle of the store. 

“Remember there are families here!” 

“So? That’s how they became a family in the first place!” 

Kaede blinked...hard. She wanted to choke him for being so inappropriate. She was embarrassed, to say the least. 

After walking around for a little bit Kokichi seemed to be itching to ask her something, “Is there something you want from the store?” 

“No..” 

“I thought you were going to say Panta or something but if you don’t even want that, then something must be wrong. Is everything ok?” 

“Kaede...do you have a crush on Shuichi?” 

She laughed, “Oh my god, you were nervous to ask me  _ that _ ?” His face turned red, “Shut up and answer the question!” He demanded. 

She thought for a second, “What if I do? What would happen then?” She grabbed a box of snacks off the shelf. 

Kokichi looked pale, “Do you really?” 

“I knew it!” Kaede pointed an accusing finger at him, “You  _ actually  _ have a crush on him! It’s not just a joke!” 

Kokichi’s eyes went wide and he messed with his scarf, “No. I just like teasing him..” 

“Your lies won’t work on me.” She smiled and kept walking through the aisle. Kokichi glanced behind him and saw a small child, about 5, staring at him. He flipped the kid off, just like he would Kaito. Kaede grabbed his hand and profusely apologized to the mom before hurrying to get out. 

He pouted the whole rest of the time, trying to annoy Kaede to the best of his abilities but she was way too good at ignoring him. She unlocked the door and huffed, throwing the plastic bags down on the ground. 

“Thanks for the help, Ko…” She put her bag down, took off her shoes, and threw herself on the couch. Shuichi came out of his room, “Do you need help- oh.” He stared at Kaede before turning to Kokichi, “Is she ok?” 

“No! We got chased by a group of horrible gang members and Kaede fought them off one by one to protect me!” He put his hand on his forehead dramatically. Shuichi snickered, “You made her do all the shopping herself, didn’t you?” 

Kaede grumbled with her face full of the couch cushion, “He was totally inappropriate in the store, too. Remind me never to take him shopping with me...ever.” She pushed herself up, “How was your time at home?”

“Did you do anything...fun~?” Kokichi smiled suggestively. 

“N-No!” Shuichi held his hands up in defense, “I worked on a case Kirigiri assigned me…” 

Kokichi draped himself over the couch, “Sounds suspicious to me!” 

“Wait...so I told you to enjoy yourself and you  _ worked? _ ” She sighed. 

“That’s how I enjoy myself!” He looked almost offended. 

“Hey, I’m not judging” Kaede shook her head and stood up, “Help me put up groceries, please.” She made her way to the bags and hauled all of them to the kitchen, by herself, for the second time that day. 

~

Kokichi slowly turned the handle to his apartment and was met face to face with none other than the  _ biggest  _ nerd he had ever met...Kiibo. He looked him up and down then shoved past him into the living room. 

“I see you brought your boy-toy over again, Iruma!” He called, setting his stuff down. 

Kiibo glanced around awkwardly, “Um...I’m just gonna go…” He practically ran to escape the apartment. 

“He’s not my boy-toy, whore!” Iruma called back, “He was over to help me study.” 

“Study sex positions, sure!” Kokichi rolled his eyes. 

“I know you don’t like him but he’s one of my friends.” Iruma stood in the doorway, “You can’t stop me from hanging out with him.” 

Kokichi grabbed a glass and filled it with water from the tap, “Just make sure he stays out of my room, Bitch-face.” He left her alone and locked himself in his room. 

He shot Kaede a message, 

_ “Hey, remember we have a video meeting tonight with D.I.C.E at 9pm sharp!” _

_ “You’re only texting me that so you’ll remember, aren’t you?” _ He smiled, she knew him well, didn’t he?

Kokichi leaned back in his desk chair and put his hands around the back of his head. He dozed off, just a bit. 

He thought about Joker. He noticed his slim build was similar to Shuichi’s. It was nice, kind of. He wished that Shuichi would help him with D.I.C.E but again, to him his job is more important. 

  
  


_...He dreamt Joker was secretly Shuichi.  _

His alarm woke him, he was so startled he almost fell out of his chair, “Fuck!” He cursed, loud. 

“What are you? Masturbating? Calm down Kokichi.” Iruma pounded on the walls. 

He wanted to hit her. She was so annoying he genuinely considered walking over to her room but he noticed the time. 

He rushed to put his jacket on and gathered his laptop in his bag, “Iruma, I have to go. I have a meeting with one of my teachers. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t, whore!” He left out the front door and called Kaede. 

“Meet me at the library. I’ll get Toko to unlock the room for us.” He rushed down the apartment stairs, practically tripping over his own two feet and ran to catch a bus to the library. 

He waved Kaede down and Toko unlocked the back room for them. 

“Thanks again, Toko” He bowed politely to her. 

“O-oh...it’s not a problem K-” 

“Just kidding! Get out of my way.” He shoved her over and pushed the door open. 

“You’re so mean to her!? How does she still unlock the room?” Kaede glanced back at Toko on the floor.

“I know a secret about her.” He smiled, “Know our enemy, Genocider Syo?” He set the laptop up on the table, “Let’s just say she holds important information on them and we made a deal.” 

He pulled his mask out of what seemed like thin air and put it on his head, “Get ready, Ace. We have 5 minutes until everyone is on.” 

“Do you think Joker will show up?” Ace asked, snapping her mask around her head. 

He laughed, “Don’t worry! If he knows what’s good for him, he will” King grinned under his mask. 

~

Shuichi watched Kaede leave. She said she forgot something at the store and that she would be back in a while. He saw this as the perfect opportunity to hop on D.I.C.E’s meeting. He set up his laptop on his messy desk filled with piles and piles of paper and put his mask on his head, it would kind of be like a Zoom call, right?

At exactly 9pm the call opened and hundreds of people flooded in to listen to what King had to say about their newest mission. It was a lot more people than he had expected, that’s for sure. 

King started off by introducing Joker, “This past week, we gained a new member! Everyone meet Joker..” He turned Joker’s mic on, 

“Oh um...Hi.” 

King laughed, “Nervous, are we?” he teased and muted him again. 

Shuichi was embarrassed, to say the least.

The meeting continued, it was a lot less professional than he thought it would be. It reminded him of online classes or something. There was even a chat that it looked like Ace was desperately trying to moderate. Luckily everyone was welcoming, and not cold towards their newest member. A lot of people said things such as “Let’s change the world together!” Or “Welcome to our family”. 

“Now, let's get straight to it.” King reassembled a stack of papers in his hands, “Would anyone like to take a guess as to what we’re doing next?” 

He stayed quiet for a second and it seemed like he was thinking of something devious. 

“Why don’t you just tell them, King?” Ace sounded impatient. Does she know what he’s going to announce? 

King laughed, “Right. I just like teasing.” He got serious almost instantly, “We will be targeting HPMC or, Hope’s Peak Medical Center.” 

He paused for everyone to let it sink in. 

“We have gotten reports of them not giving care to patients because they are unable to pay the fee, but everyone should get health care regardless of if they can pay or not. It’s life or death.” King seemed really passionate about this, Shuichi admired it. 

He kept going on about how the mission would be done. They would essentially protest outside of the hospital until they got enough attention for the hospital to address it themselves. It seemed non-violent enough. Shuichi kind of liked the idea and he was appalled that they were denying care just because of some stupid cash. 

He signed up to go protest, without another thought he signed his codename  _ Joker  _ on the spreadsheet. Letting them know he would be there. 

The call was finally over and he was lucky Kaede hadn’t gotten home before the call was over. He would’ve absolutely just died. Shuichi stared at the case files on his desk and looked at the title of one of the opened ones, 

**_D.I.C.E’s Identities_ **

He had to admit, he was very curious as to what their identities were. Did he want to out them to the public? Everyone at D.I.C.E seemed so nice. They were very accepting and welcomed him with open arms. 

_ ‘Did they deserve to be outed?’ _ He was so lost in thought that he didn’t even hear Kaede return home. 

~

The girl stood up tall, her girlfriend hugging her from behind. She whispered in her ear, “Baby, you work too hard. Take a break” 

She shook her head, “I’m sorry, Celestia I can’t. This case is too important.” 

Celestia scrunched up her face, “Whatever you say. Tell me that when you’ve wasted your life away, Kyoko.” 

__

Kyoko hummed and tossed the papers aside, giving her lover a peck on the cheek. “Alright. Make this quick.” 

The top paper had pictures of suspects for the leader of D.I.C.E. The one that had the most notes underneath it was a picture of a purple-haired boy. 

A particular, 5’1, purple-haired boy. 

Kokichi Ouma’s name was marked in red with harsh lines drawn under it. Next to it was an arrow that read “King??” 

Of course, there were other kids that fit King’s description, but Kirigiri had a feeling it was that boy in particular. And she had a way to test this theory. 


	4. Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so real quick content warning for later in this chapter, Joker corners King. I don't know if that would trigger anyone but I just want to be careful :)
> 
> Regardless, this one is pretty long. I got kinda lost in writing it because I was so happy with the way it was going. I really hope you guys enjoy this one as much as I did.
> 
> Also, I want to put a really big thank you to @M_o_t_h for being my beta reader. She writes such an amazing body swap AU and you guys should really go check it out! 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy chapter 4!

Kirigiri scanned the ID card around her neck to the digital kiosk at the front of the detective’s building. She waved at Maki and wrote her name down in cursive on the sheet of paper that was clearly overflowing with signatures. 

Maki smiled, “How are you and Celestia?” 

Kirigiri laughed, “I see you’re in a good mood today, what’s up?” 

“Oh no, I don’t want to bother you.” 

“I can spare a second,” Kirigiri offered and sat down behind the counter with Maki. 

Maki talked about how finally, _finally_ her crush asked her out on a date after being clueless of her advances for like 3 months. Kirigiri couldn’t help but laugh, 

“I never took you to be the romantic type…” She noted. 

Maki seemed embarrassed, “I’m really not, I just..y'know started crushing and it was unbearable. I just wanted that idiot to realize I loved him but no matter what I did, he was just dense!” 

“Well, I’m glad you got a date, regardless. If you don’t mind me asking, who is it?” Kirigiri took a sip from her coffee. 

“Ah, Kaito Momota. He’s training to be an astronaut.” 

“You’ll have to introduce us sometime!” Kirigiri waved goodbye to Maki and left for her office. 

As she entered her office she immediately locked the door and shut the blinds. She made it look like no one was in there, when in fact there definitely was someone lurking in the darkroom. 

Kirigiri sat down at her organized desk and spread a file out. It was information on D.I.C.E and their leader. She compared his stats, abilities, personality, everything she could think of to her suspect. It irked her to think that one of Shuichi’s friends could be the leader of D.I.C.E. 

_‘Isn’t he assigned a D.I.C.E case every week? If he hasn’t figured it out, maybe I’m reaching.”_ She scratched her head and huffed, _‘I haven’t done this in so long, I feel like I’m getting rusty. I just need one more piece of evidence to prove that King is Kokichi Ouma...but what is it?’_

She thought for a second, ‘ _Speaking of Shuichi he was investigating all the D.I.C.E cases trying to figure out where they would target next, maybe I should talk to him..”_

“If I can’t even solve a case like this, I’m definitely getting rusty.” She shook her head in disappointment. “But if we don’t figure out who it is soon, I’m going to _have_ to take matters into my own hands.” 

She opened her office back up and started filling out paperwork, she tried to look as normal as possible while she racked her brain for solutions to this case. Solutions where Shuichi’s friends weren’t involved. 

Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door. And what do you know, there he is, Shuichi Saihara in all of his glory. 

“Morning, Kirigiri-San!” He greeted her warmly but seemed tired. 

“Morning, Shuichi.” She leaned back in her chair and propped her feet up on her desk, “May I ask you something?” 

“Um..sure?” He looked a little worried. 

“Who do you think the leader of D.I.C.E is?” 

He sighed deeply, or was it a breath of relief? She couldn’t tell. 

“I genuinely don’t know. Whoever they are, they’re clever and are able to hide well.” He said, cracking a smile at the clever bit. 

She nodded curtly, “I agree with that. Could you ever consider the possibility that King is someone among us? He could be one of your friends or one of mine for that matter. Isn’t that weird to think about?” She tried to make it sound like she was just curious. 

“I guess...I never really considered that.” He looked embarrassed, “But what if, D.I.C.E isn’t really doing bad things? They’re just trying to give power to the people I don’t se-“ 

“Shuichi Saihara, do you hear yourself? How many D.I.C.E cases have you been assigned?” 

“Almost twent-“ 

“A lot. You would not be assigned those cases if we weren’t prioritizing solving the mystery behind D.I.C.E.” 

Shuichi looked at the ground in silence. There was an uncomfortable aura but Kirigiri continued, “They are a group of vigilantes that are carrying out the police's job for them. You agree that’s bad, right?” 

“I..suppose?” He sounded unsure of himself. Kirigiri looked disappointed. 

“Well, now I know which side you fall on. Maybe that’s why you’re slacking off?” 

“I didn’t...I didn’t think I said anything about that. I’m sorry, Kirigiri-San! I’ll work even harder…” He bit his lip, visibly frustrated. Kirigiri nodded and dismissed him. 

“Maybe now, he’ll bring the answers to me..” She mumbled after he was out of earshot 

~

Shuichi sat down at his desk, _‘Does...does she know?’_ He felt tears sting his eyes and he frantically wiped his face off with his sleeve. “I can’t cry, I can’t cry, I can’t cry, I can’t-“ His phone buzzed, he checked the name. 

“What does he want with me?” He hissed as he read the message, 

_“Good morning, Joker :p! I was wondering when you wanted to meet up again because I still have something of yours (refer to picture below)”_

He sent a picture of him wearing Shuichi’s chain around his hips. He couldn’t help but blush, “Wow…” he whispered underneath his breath, all negative emotions he had suddenly went away. A girl walking by stared at him and he blushed even more. 

_“I’m free tonight. Plus I could use some cheering up :)”_

_“Perfect! How about we meet somewhere new this time? What about my favorite place in the park?”_

_“And where is that?”_

_“Meet me at the gates, I’ll show you! How does 8pm sound?”_

_“Sure! I might be a bit late because I get off at 8 tho…”_

_“It’s ok. I’ll be sure to wait for you. This is our first date, after all ;)”_

“What! First date?” He accidentally said out loud. This time someone that looked like they fetched coffee for the office glared at him. 

He turned to face the wall, absolutely, utterly, embarrassed out of his mind. 

_“First...date?”_

_“Haha! I’m just messing around. Seriously though, I’ll see you at 8! Don’t forget your mask :)”_

He noticed King really liked to use emoticon faces like that. He thought it was kinda cute and he couldn’t wait until he got to see him again. 

Shuichi got through the rest of his day. He noticed Kirigiri didn’t talk to him, he tried interacting with her multiple times but she pretended to be distracted by the phone or that she needed to be at a meeting. 

It made him sad, but it’s not like this hasn’t happened before. He just let her because there wasn’t much else he could do. 

He was, however, excited to meet with King. It was like a weird nervous-y feeling in his stomach whenever he thought about it, but a good nervous. King felt so familiar to him, even though they’d only just met like a few days ago. 

He checked out of the office and almost ran home, he smiled at Kaede as he entered the apartment, “I’m meeting with a friend, but I’ll be back in a bit.” He hung his hat and coat up by the door and rushed to get dressed in what he normally wore as Joker, but added a grey sweatshirt on top where he hid his mask. Just so Kaede couldn’t see. 

Kaede didn’t look up from her textbooks, “Don’t get kidnapped or something. Have fun!” 

He waited at the gates of the park on his phone. King wasn’t anywhere to be found. 

Suddenly he heard shrieks among girls at the park, “OMG is that King??” “I want his autograph!” etc. 

He looked up to see King perched on one of the pillars, staring straight at him. He extended a hand to Shuichi, “Shall we go?” 

Shuichi nodded and took his hand. King took him to a secluded part of the park next to a pond. A worn-out bench sat under an old willow tree. 

King sat down and patted the seat next to him, inviting him to sit down. 

“So...this is your favorite spot?” Shuichi took in the surroundings. He bet it would be even prettier at sunset. 

“Yeah. I like coming here after a hard mission or something, but it’s nice to just relax honestly.” 

King gasped and rustled through his pockets, “I almost forgot why we were here!” He pulled the chain out and shoved it in Shuichi’s hand, “There you go, Joker!” 

Shuichi put it back on his jeans, “Stealing my dagger I can understand, but something so close to my body? I don’t get it.” 

“Practice makes perfect!” He said in a light tone, “I’ll teach you! I said I would, right?” 

“Oh yeah. I forgot about that.” Shuichi gulped. Being a detective and knowing how to pickpocket? Was that necessary? 

King stood up and grabbed Shuichi’s hand. He held a checkered scarf in his fist, “I _was_ going to give this to you during your first mission but!” He tied it around his thigh, “If you’re able to take this off, without me noticing, you can have it early.” 

King backed up, about a foot away from him. “First things first, try to use actions or conversation to distract me. Anything goes but if you use physical force like hitting or kicking, I’ll stop you.” 

Shuichi nodded, “So like..I just talk?” 

“You can. Or you can try shaking my hand, hugging me...maybe even kissing me~” The leader teased. He blushed underneath his mask. 

“Ok..” They stood in awkward silence and Shuichi rambled about places he liked going to in the city. King stopped him. 

“So that was unbearable. Try using your actions, I think you’ll be better with that.” 

Actions of all kinds ran through his brain. He tried shaking King’s hand and used his other hand to try to untie the scarf but the other boy was just too good. 

“C’mon, try harder!” King crossed his arms. 

“Fine.” Shuichi started walking towards him. 

“So I’ve been meaning to tell you but I’ve been a fan of D.I.C.E for like, ever.”As he talked, King took a couple of steps back. 

“I’ve always wanted to be a member but you, you were always my favorite.” He kept walking. He didn’t stop, even when King’s back touched the tree. 

“W-wait. What are you doing?!” Shuichi put his hand on the tree besides King, 

“Something I’ve wanted to do for a while now..” He leaned in and King’s face turned so red he was glad he was wearing a mask. 

As their masks almost touched, Shuichi almost immediately backed off. 

“What was that? Did you try to kiss me?” 

Shuichi stood silently, he looked embarrassed. 

King looked upset. “You can’t do that? I’ve known you for like 3 days! You just forced yourself on me an-“ He stopped dead in his tracks as he watched Joker tie the checkered bandana around his same thigh. 

“Oh, you bastard.” 

“It was the only way I could think of. I’m so sorry if I overstepped any boundaries I never meant to.” Shuichi said, embarrassed out of his mind. 

King laughed, “Don’t worry about it. I have a crush on someone else but you didn’t overstep. It was a clever way of stealing it from me.” He realized what he said. 

“You have a crush on someone?” Shuichi was curious. Maybe this could reveal his identity. 

King knew he slipped up, “oh no! Looks like I lied..” 

“I thought you hated liars?” 

“I do. But I can give myself an exception.” He seemed proud of himself. 

Shuichi sat back down on the bench, “I like this..” he messed with the scarf on his thigh. 

“Oh? You’re keeping it on your thigh?” 

“Yeah...kind of as a nod to when you taught me how to pickpocket I guess.” 

“It’s more sleight of hand than anything, but that’s so sweet it makes me want to die.” King huffed. 

Shuichi noted that King didn’t seem to like cheesy stuff. 

They spent the rest of their time together talking. Shuichi learned things like King loved grape soda and that he also liked psychology a lot. He had a rough childhood that made him form D.I.C.E but he didn’t want to talk more about it, even though he offered to listen. He didn’t pry because it seemed like a tough subject. 

He also learned that his favorite color was purple and that he loved cats but didn’t own one. 

It was almost 12am by the time he got home. They got so caught up with each other that they lost track of time and they only noticed when a park ranger came to kick them out. 

He hid his mask in his sweatshirt again and headed towards his apartment where he found Kaede asleep at the table again. As quiet as he could, he went to his room and changed. He wrote more notes down about King. Little things he noticed about his personality and the way he acted. How he mentioned a crush but dismissed it as a lie. 

He, too, fell asleep at his desk. 

~

Kokichi took his mask off and entered the apartment. Iruma was asleep in her room. He knew because he could hear her loud, annoying snoring from where he was. 

He laid on his bed and smiled. He enjoyed hanging out with Joker. He loved the way he talked and was so attentive. He liked his awkward demeanor despite teasing him about it and absolutely loved the way he looked with the scarf tied around his thigh. 

He was proud that he was able to teach Joker his sleight of hand trick in just one evening and even more proud that he stole his phone while Joker was caught up in trying to steal the piece of fabric. 

He looked at the phone. It had just a black case on it. _‘Boring.’_ He thought as he tried to unlock it to snoop. 

“Damn! There’s a password.” He stared at the screen as he tried to guess it, but in truth, he knew nothing about Joker that could give it away.

He also respected the “You can’t know anything about each other” rule but cursed himself for making it up. Joker felt familiar but he just couldn’t place his finger on it. 

Actually, he reminded him a lot of Shuichi. The slim build, awkward demeanor, the rambling. 

But there was NO way he was a member of D.I.C.E. He would’ve never given D.I.C.E all those copies of the cases because he could’ve lost his job. He would’ve run off immediately. 

Plus, with that whole almost kiss thing, Shuichi was never that romantic. He was too awkward for that. 

“I just want him to love me, don’t I? I want him to support what I do. I don’t want to lie to him..” 

He cried. Something he hadn’t done in a really long time. Something he didn’t want to do actually. He thought it made him weak to cry and it reminded him of when he was younger. It reminded him of his mom, actually. 

But he couldn’t stop. The crying was comforting despite the feeling like there was a rock stuck in his throat and choking on his tears a couple of times. It felt nice to let it out. 

“I’m crying, over..a dumb boy.” He sobbed in between words, “a goody-two-shoes, dumb boy.” 

He’d never cried over a boy before. He’d had plenty of crushes, sure, but not one of them

made him feel such strong feelings as Saihara did. 

He fell asleep, thinking of Saihara while tears stained his cheeks. 

~

Iruma heard the door open and close. Earlier Kokichi left because Kaede had some stuff for him. Iruma didn’t think much of it but she’d been texting him for hours. 

She realized she should pretend to be asleep and started fake snoring. Hopefully, he believed it. 

She heard him mumble and then...sobbing? Was he crying? No, Kokichi never cried. There’s no way. 

She put her earphones in and scrolled through her site on the computer. It was dedicated to D.I.C.E. She ran a forum and let the community interact. She managed it all by herself, though and it was rough. 

She was honestly looking for help. Plus digging up info on D.I.C.E alone was kind of tough. 

Her phone buzzed, it was a text from some random number. 

_“Are you Miu Iruma? You run dice.com, right?”_

Miu stared at the screen. “Who the fuck is this?” She asked under her breath. 

_“Yeah. What the fuck do you want with me? My personal phone number isn’t anywhere on that site, I made sure of it. You seem like some creepy fucker.”_

_“No!! I'm a member of D.I.C.E...I want to help.”_

_“Oh please! I don’t need help. Plus how do I even know that’s the truth? You’re wasting my time and it’s the middle of the night.”_

_“Wait!”_ After a couple of minutes the person, who she now knew was a girl, sent a picture of her in her D.I.C.E outfit. She recognized her as Ace. 

_“Holy crap, it’s really you? Why do you want to help?”_

_“Idk. I really like your site and I heard you ran it all by yourself. D.I.C.E keeps their stuff under tight lock soo maybe I can help you a bit?”_

Iruma stared at the screen and smiled. She secretly really liked Ace. She was her favorite member. They met once while she was recording a mission of theirs for her site and Ace complimented her outfit. 

She’s thought about it everyday and yes, she’s bragged to Kokichi about it. 

She totally had a crush on her but she refused to admit it. 

_“Well, if you insist..can’t you get in trouble tho?”_

_“As long as King doesn’t find out ;)”_

She put the number in her phone and kept talking to Ace. She hadn’t even realized the sun had risen and a certain Kokichi Ouma was out and about in the kitchen;. 

She put the phone down for a bit and rubbed her dry eyes. She admitted she maybe had a bit of an addiction to the phone screen. It was just so..easy to get lost on social media. 

She threw a shirt on and walked out to the kitchen. Kokichi looked like shit. _‘Maybe he was crying..’_

“Hey! Cock-itchy what’s wrong?” 

“...” He ignored her. He didn’t look pleased with the nickname. 

“Okkkk be that way then.” Iruma huffed and stood next to him, trying to be annoying. 

“Iruma go away. I don’t feel like talking.” 

She nodded, “Ok well, I’m here if you want to talk to me, idiot. It’s not fair you get to suffer in silence and you always listen to my problems.” 

He snickered, “Whatever,” was all he said as he locked himself back in his room. 

“Is it..? No that’s not until December..” She thought out loud. Every year, the same week in December Kokichi always got sensitive and never did anything. She learned the hard way that it was the anniversary of his mom being locked away because she went psycho. 

He had a hard family life, sure, but that’s all Iruma knew about it. It was weird but it seemed like he hated even thinking about it. She thought more about it, didn’t he mention he had a crush on someone? She walked up to his door, she could hear him sobbing quietly and she bit her lip, “Boy problems?” She asked him. 

He sobbed louder. 

_‘Fuck.’_ She thought. It was definitely boy problems. She opened the door cautiously and got a pillow thrown at her face. 

“Get out, bitch! Look what you did to me!” 

He’d never called her a name like that to actually hurt her. She got a quick look at his face before he covered up with his hands. He was definitely crying, crying hard. His cheeks were swollen and puffy, not to mention how red his eyes were. 

She sat down on the bed next to him and he tried to push her away. She stayed right next to him despite his protest, “I know you’re upset and it’s about this crush of yours, isn’t it?” 

Kokichi looked away from Miu, “I..I don’t know what you’re talking about” 

“You can’t lie for shit when you’re upset.” She laughed. 

He messed with the scarf around his neck, “No...I’m really good at it!” He looked like he was struggling not to cry. 

Miu put her hand on his shoulder and they made eye contact, “You don’t have to tell me what’s going on bu-” 

He broke down and cried while Miu held him, “I just want him to love me!” He pushed his fists into his own eyes to try to stop the tears but they just kept coming. 

Miu let him cry. She didn’t know who Kokichi was referring to, but it didn’t feel appropriate to ask. 

After a while, the tears stopped and Miu noticed he had fallen asleep. She laid him down and closed the door behind her. It was unlike him to get this upset so she let him be and went back to writing in her own room. 

But she couldn’t help but wonder who he was crying about. Who did he have a crush on? Who did he like so much that it made him cry? 

She made a group chat with a few of his close friends in it...well she could only think of Kaede and Shuichi. She sent a text, 

_“Guys, don’t tell him I told you because he will hate me FOREVER but Kokichi has been crying all day over some crush of his. I’m kind of worried for him :/”_

_“Oh no! I was wondering why he hadn’t texted me all day. Shuichi is at work, Miu do you want to meet up and talk over some coffee?”_

_“That sounds great! I can meet up rn.”_

_“K. See ya in 10!”_

_~_

Kaede slipped her shoes on and frowned, “Miu is such an idiot for putting Shuichi in the group chat.” She scribbled a note down for her roommate and left it on the counter. 

She was glad he had misplaced his phone. He was worried sick this morning because he couldn’t find it so he went to work to ask Kirigiri. 

At the coffee shop, she waited for Miu. She was trying to figure out what she was going to tell her. She waved the inventor down and order them some coffee. 

“So, is he ok?” Kaede asked as soon as their waitress had left their table. 

Miu nodded, “Yeah. He was asleep when I left. He calmed down enough to be able to lay down.” 

“Do you know who his crush is?” 

“No, that’s why I started the chat.” She sounded annoyed. 

“I don’t know if I can say it.” Kaede looked away, smiling. 

“Wait so he trusted _you_ with his secret but not me??” She slammed her hands down on the table. 

“To be fair, I guessed it. He got embarrassed and it gave it away.” She grinned, “If you’re able to guess it I’ll tell you.” 

“Hm..ok. Will you describe him?” 

“Sure!” Kaede clapped her hands together, “He has bluish-black hair, pretty green-gold eyes. He wears black all the time and totally went through an emo phase but he denies it.” 

Miu groaned, “C’mon! Give me a better hint!”

“Are you serious? I would’ve guessed it by just that.” Kaede thought for a second and then spoke up, “He’s a detective.” 

“Oh my god..” Miu’s eyes went wide, “He has a crush on Shuichi fucking Saihara, doesn’t he?”

Kaede giggled lightly, “He sure does, but don’t tell him I told you! He’ll kill me.” 

Miu smiled, “Don’t worry, Bakamatsu! I’ll keep it a secret.” 

They drank their coffee and parted ways. 

Kaede unlocked her apartment and noticed Shuichi still hadn’t gotten home. They tried calling it this morning but there was nothing. 

She could only imagine where it went, “Maybe someone stole it?” 

Right now, she needed to text Kokichi. She had to leave the phone to Shuichi. 

She shot him a text, 

_“Hey, I heard from Miu that you’re having problems. Do you want me to come over? We can watch a movie or something. Text me when you see this <3” _

She felt content with it and waited for his answer. 

~

Shuichi ran inside the office, panicking. “Maki! Has anyone turned in a phone?” He grabbed onto the counter and stared at the Lost and Found box in the corner. 

Maki pushed him off, “Stop it. And no, we haven’t gotten a phone turned in, I’m sorry.” 

Shuichi frantically wrote his name and put the pen down. He threw Kirigiri’s door open, “Kirigiri-San!” 

She put the phone back on it’s stand, “I thought today you were off?” 

“I’m supposed to be! I lost my phone, I think I left it somewhere here but Maki said no one has turned one in. I don’t know where it could be!” 

Kirigiri rubbed her head as if it ached, “Ok well...did you go anywhere after work? And did you check your office?” 

He shook his head, “Yeah, I went to the park to meet up with...a friend.” 

“Maybe they have it?”

“I’ll ask.” 

Shuichi left Kirigiri alone and checked his own desk. The papers and coffee cups made it hard to search and he cursed himself for not being more organized. 

He left the office in a hurry and practically ran to the park. He searched all around the pond and the bench but still, couldn’t find it. 

Then, a thought crossed his mind, _‘King took it while I was trying to take the scarf, didn’t he?’_

He felt so stupid he hadn’t noticed as soon as it was stolen, and he felt even more stupid for not noticing it until the next day. He had to get his phone back somehow but without it, how would he be able to contact him? 

Shuichi sat on the bench and held his head in his hands, he started grabbing at his hair anxiously. “I’m so dumb. How can I even be a detective?” 

He noticed a figure standing behind the tree to the side of him. He looked up and recognized his purple hair, “Kokichi?” 

Kokichi sat down next to him, “Nishishi~! How were you able to guess it was me?” 

“I can recognize your hair,” Shuichi smiled at the ground. 

“Is something the matter, Shumai?” 

“I just lost my phone. Losing something that important is stressing me out.” 

“Ohh! Do you know who has it?” 

“Yeah..” Shuichi played with his fingers, “But I have no way to contact them since I don’t have my phone.” 

“Do you want to message them from mine?” Kokichi offered. 

“Um, no. I would rather handle this myself. I don’t want you to get mixed up in my problems.” 

“I thought you were stressed because it was so important to you?” 

“Yeah but it’s not a big deal. I can use Kirigiri’s in the meantime.” Shuichi smiled at him, “Thank you for offering!” 

Kokichi kicked at the dirt with his feet, “So...I have a question.”

“What’s up?” 

“Let’s say...I’ve known a boy for a while and in the time that I’ve known him, I’ve started to develop feelings for him.” 

Shuichi gulped, “Shouldn’t this be a question for Kaede? You know I’m not good with this kinda stuff.” 

“Shut up and listen to me.” Kokichi crossed his arms, “I know the boy doesn’t like me back, nor does he support what I do. What should I do about it? Do I keep liking him and deal with one-sided love? Or do I move on?” 

Shuichi was confused. _‘Why is he asking me? I don’t want to give him the wrong answer…’_

They sat in awkward silence until Shuichi came up with something, “How do you know he doesn’t like you back?”

“I...I don’t. I just assume he doesn’t.” 

Shuichi looked at him, “Then how can you give up hope already? If you truly don’t know then keep liking him until you get a straight answer.” 

“Wouldn’t it be a gay answer?” Kokichi laughed at his own joke and Shuichi joined in. 

“I guess it would…” They sat in awkward silence again. 

“Do you like boys, Saihara?” He was almost taken aback, he hadn’t called him Saihara in years. 

“Um…” Shuichi’s face flushed, “I don’t know. I guess gender doesn’t really matter to me that much.” 

Kokichi mumbled “good” under his breath but Shuichi couldn’t hear him. 

After a while, Kokichi went home and Shuichi was alone again. He leaned back on the bench and got lost in his own thoughts. _‘I wonder who Kokichi’s crush is? Whoever it is must be lucky...he’s actually a really good guy.’_

He walked home while the sunset and got on his computer. He emailed the one D.I.C.E uses, 

_“Hey, King! It’s Joker. We should meet up so you can give me my phone back. I know it’s you. I’m free tomorrow around lunchtime. Let me know!”_

He closed the computer on his desk and left it alone. All of his energy just went away at once and he laid on his bed. His whole body felt like hell. 

Kaede knocked on his door, “Hey, are you hungry? I don’t feel like cooking so I was just going to order take-out if it’s ok with you.” 

Shuichi groaned in response and Kaede opened the door, “Are you ok?” 

“Not really. My phone is still lost. I’m a bad detective” He stuffed his head in his pillow. 

“How does that have anything to do with being a detective?” She sat next to him and played with his hair as he looked like he was suffocating himself. 

“It doesn’t, I just didn’t figure it out fast enough.” 

“So? You don’t rely on your phone like me or Iruma do. It has nothing to do with your ability as a detective.” 

He groaned again, almost like he was saying he didn’t believe her. He was clearly upset. 

Kaede pulled her phone out, “Do you want noodles?” 

He nodded, still with his head in his pillow. Kaede placed the order and kept sitting with him. 

“Did anything else happen today?” 

“I saw Kokichi at the park. I went there because I took a walk yesterday and thought I lost my phone on the walk,” He lied about the walk. He hated it. “We talked for a bit. He was having trouble believing his crush liked him back but I reassured him that if he didn’t know for sure, he shouldn’t just assume.” 

Kaede’s eyes widened, “Was he ok? I heard from Iruma he was having a pretty hard time.” 

“Yeah, he seemed better after I talked to him for a bit.” 

She wanted to laugh at the irony but she knew it would ruin the mood, “Well, I’m glad. Apparently he was crying a lot about it.” 

“Kokichi...was crying?” 

“Yeah...I didn’t even know he could do that” Kaede cracked a little smiled but realized she would come across as insensitive, “I’ll be in the living room. If you need anything come get me, ok?” 

Shuichi nodded but was a little sad she had left. “Kokichi cried?” He instinctively reached for his phone but quickly remembered it wasn’t there. He got up and slipped his shoes on. 

“Kaede, I’ll be back in a bit.” He called and walked out the door.

He walked briskly down the hall and knocked on the door, Iruma answered, “What do you want, Pooichi?” She seemed upset with him but he didn’t know why. 

“Can I...talk to Kokichi?” 

She scoffed, “Why do you want to talk to him?” 

“Well, I heard he was upset so I just wanted to make sure he was ok.” 

“Sure.” He started to walk inside but Iruma closed the door in his face.

He heard Iruma and Kokichi yelling at each other before the door opened again. Iruma mumbled, “Sorry..” and locked herself in her room. 

Kokichi sat at the table, his hands folded. He looked tired and a lot different from what he looked like earlier. He looked...sadder. 

“Kaede told me you were um...crying.” Shuichi sat down across from him. 

Kokichi stayed quiet, “I didn’t know you were that upset about this crush.” Shuichi continued. 

“It’s not that big a deal, Shumai! I don’t know why you care about me so much?” He sounded like he was struggling to even tease him. 

“I care about you because you’re my friend. We’ve known each other for such a long time and we barely even talk anymore.” 

Kokichi looked up at him, hurt in his eyes. It made Shuichi sad. 

“Yeah...you’ve been super busy with your detective work. But I understand, because it’s your dream and all.” 

“Do you...want to go to work with me tomorrow? I’m sure Kirigiri won’t mind if I bring a friend.” 

Kokichi’s eyes lit up, “Really? I’ll be able to do real detective work tomorrow with my beloved Shumai!” 

Shuichi wanted to frown. Kokichi was trying to act happy but the tear stains, his messy clothes, and how sick he looked said otherwise. It made Shuichi more sad than anything. 

“Yeah. You can just ask...I’m sure you’d actually be helpful since you study psychology and all.” He tried to hide behind his hair. 

He laughed, “Yeah because I totally pay attention.” 

~

Kaede set chopsticks out and put the take-out containers on the table just as Shuichi walked in. 

“Oh! The food just got here, it’s still hot.” Kaede smiled and motioned to the table, “Where’d you go?” 

“I just went to go talk to Kokichi for a bit. I didn’t even notice he was upset earlier, I felt bad.” 

“Ohhh.” Kaede sat down, “Yeah, I’m sure he’ll be ok. I wonder who he has feelings for, though?” She felt so proud of herself. 

“I don’t know, honestly. It couldn’t be you because...well he likes boys and it’s not me because we barely even talk to each other.” Shuichi laughed, “We’re going to try to hang out more.” 

“Yeah...totally.” 

She sent Kokichi a message as she was putting dishes away, 

_“You didn’t tell Saihara?”_

_“Um..no? Why would I?”_

Kaede sighed, “They’re such dumbasses.” 

_“Because! Now he’s wondering who your crush is. You know him, sooner or later he’ll find it out and won’t tell you and it’ll be awkward.”_

_“Well...do you think he likes me back?”_

She didn’t know how to respond, _“I’m sure he does, Ko.”_

She decided not to read the text he sent her. This whole situation was too much for her and she wanted to support her best friends. This was a mess that they would need to sort out themselves when it came down to it. She wasn’t going to deal with the awkwardness or the fight that ensued. 

She wanted Shuichi to like him so badly. She wanted them to be happy together and have a family. She didn’t want Kokichi to cry over him not liking him back. She didn’t want him to be a part of some one-sided love. 

She crossed her arms and pouted, “This is so dumb!” She couldn’t believe she was involved in this. She wanted to just stop being friends with them both. Not only was she playing the piano, teaching piano, and going to classes but she was basically D.I.C.E’s secretary and also had to be in the middle of her best friend crushing on her other best friend. 

_‘Maybe Iruma can help me take my mind off this? Yeah...I can message her as Ace and tell her about our next heist.”_

_“Want some inside info?”_ She texted her and got a response almost immediately, 

_“Um...of course I do?”_

_“Our next heist is about a week from today and will be at the HPMC. It’ll be more of a protest than anything else. You should advertise it! Maybe we can get more support that way?”_

_“Of course I can advertise it! I kind of do that anyway.”_

Kaede smiled and put her phone away. It felt so cool to be messaging one of her friends as Ace. She really liked Iruma. They started becoming friends when Kaede was accidentally put in a robotics class instead of a language class or something, but she was definitely not meant to be there. 

She was awkward back then and not a lot of people talked to Kaede. She literally was a Piano Freak, that’s all she did. Eat, sleep, piano. Sometimes she didn’t even do the other two. 

Now she obviously cared about herself a lot more but back in middle school, it was just the piano. Regardless, Miu was the only one that would talk to her in that class and she eventually made Kiibo talk to her, too. That’s how she made some of her closest friends at the time. 

Miu would defend her from bullies and was nice to her for no reason. She hadn’t really had any other friends so it was certainly a change. 

They didn’t have any other classes together besides that one robotics class. Kaede truly wasn’t interested in it so they never reconnected. They saw each other at lunch _sometimes_ but after middle school, she almost never saw her. 

Kaede realized she probably had a crush on Miu back then but didn’t know she liked girls yet. 

“That’s kind of awkward…” 

“Hm?” Shuichi asked, standing behind her. 

“Oh my god!” She jumped, “How long have you been here?” 

“A while…” 

“Oh.” Kaede’s face went red, “Was I talking out loud?” 

“A little bit, yeah.” Shuichi put his dishes in the sink, “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I’m sorry.” 

“No! It’s ok, It was totally my fault so..” The atmosphere went awkward, “I’m just gonna go..” Kaede ran out of the kitchen and hid in her room. 

She faced the ceiling and covered her face, “I can’t believe Shuichi heard that…” 

He was her best friend, sure, but no one and she means _no one_ knew she liked girls. She supported them but she always had conflicting feelings about it toward herself. It wasn’t like her parents were homophobic, either. She just...never imagined she would like girls. 

She texted Kokichi, 

_“I accidentally told Shuichi I like girls.”_

_“You like girls???”_

_“Oh wait, I forgot you didn’t know either. Um, I like girls!! Woooooooo”_

_“You don’t sound very enthusiastic :/”_

_“Yeah idk. I’ve never told anyone, it’s all very weird to me. I’ve known I liked girls because I used to dream about marrying my best friend but I thought it was just because we were best friends. It was because I had a crush on her. My parents don’t know, please don’t tell them.”_

_“Oopsie!”_

_“Kokichi!”_

_“I’m just kidding! I wouldn’t do that, I know how hard it is. I hope you get a really nice gf one day but just know that your sexuality doesn’t define you as a person, Kaede! You’re my right hand and you do so much for all of your friends, we love you no matter what <3” _

_“That’s super cheesy.”_

_“I know, I hate it.”_

_“Thank you anyways, Ko.”_

Kaede sighed, now her best friends knew one of her deepest secrets. One she didn’t even think she would tell herself. 

Regardless, It was out. No...she was out. 

She sat in her desk chair and rolled over to her computer. She went over the list of signatures for D.I.C.E’s protest next week. She noticed Joker’s name and smiled. 

“I’m glad he’s so invested in this! I know King likes him a lot…” 

Shuichi stood at the door and pressed his ear to it. He tried to be as quiet as possible as he listened to Kaede. He didn’t mean to, but he could tell she was upset. 

_‘Is she talking about D.I.C.E?’_

He gasped as he heard the next thing she said, 

“It’s so hard being Ace, though..” 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Problems With Ace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually pretty happy with how chapter 5 came out so I won't say much. This one is actually longer than the last one so sit back and enjoy :) 
> 
> Also, I want to put a really big thank you to @M_o_t_h for being my beta reader. She writes such an amazing body swap AU and you guys should really go check it out! (The whole Makoto thing was her idea haha!)

Shuichi gasped at the next thing he heard Kaede say, 

“It’s so hard being Ace, though.” 

He left and hid in his own room. “That makes sense, actually,” He said to himself. He scribbled notes down in the notepad on his desk. 

“Same hair color, same voice, same height…” Shuichi mumbled and tapped the pen to the wood, “Should I confront her? No..not right now.” 

He rested his head on the desk and sighed, “I can’t believe this. Why would she hide this from me? Does she not trust me?” 

Then he realized that he never told her he was Joker. It was hypocritical to say Kaede didn’t trust him enough to tell him her identity because...well he kept his a secret too. It was still weird to think that Kaede helped D.I.C.E. Why does she help them, though? She’s already busy as it is...was she forced into it? 

He needed to talk to someone, anyone. He couldn’t go to Kaede, that would be weird. Iruma? She seemed upset with him. Who else could he go to? 

He threw his coat on and rushed out the front door, he didn’t even bother telling Kaede that he left. He was panicking. 

~

Kokichi jumped at the knocking on the door. He cracked it slightly and looked up at the taller boy. 

“We need to talk.” Shuichi looked uneasy.

Kokichi yawned, “What do you want? Are we breaking up?????” 

“What? Um...no?” He sighed, “Can you please let me in, it’s cold..” 

“I’ll think about it.” He began to close the door.

“Kokichi, please!” Shuichi begged. 

“Fine, ugh. You’re so needy.” Kokichi opened the door for him and sat down on the couch, “If you want a drink or something, help yourself.” 

Shuichi shook his head, “I’m good, thank you though.” He sat down next to him on the couch. 

“Soooo why did you come banging on our door at 10pm? I could’ve been naked, you know!” 

Shuichi blushed, “Oh um...I’m sorry. I have a problem and I didn’t know who else to talk to” 

“What’s wrong, Shumai? I can’t believe you’re coming to me for your problems! Couldn’t you have gone to Kaede?” Kokichi leaned back into the couch. 

“It’s actually...about her so that would be weird.” 

“What? Is this about her liking girls?” 

“No! I’m okay with her liking girls, I’m really happy for her actually. I knew she was always kind of confused with it so I’m glad that she was able to find out she was attracted to them.” Shuichi started rambling. He looked embarrassed. 

“Oh. What is this about then?” 

“Um...I went to go apologise to her for eavesdropping on accident but then I...eavesdropped again.” Shuichi tried to cover his face, probably ashamed. 

Kokichi smiled, “Wow! I never thought you would be the type to be sneaky!” 

Shuichi opened his mouth to protest but Kokichi interrupted him, “So! Spit it out already! I’m curious!” 

Kokichi honestly was,  _ ‘Did he find out she was Ace or something? He’s making me nervous..’ _

“I think Kaede....is Ace. I overheard her talking about it.” 

Kokichi’s eyes widened,  _ ‘Fuck. How was she that careless?’ _

“Wow! I can’t believe she hid it from us! Are you going to tell the police?” Kokichi tried to ask him questions without giving away his own identity. 

“Um, I don’t think I’ll out her. I never saw a mask or a checkered scarf, I just heard her say it’s hard being Ace. She might’ve been roleplaying or something..” 

“Yeah...that’s totally what she meant. She’s a pianist, she’s way too busy to be the right hand of such a big organization!” 

“Yeah...I just needed someone to talk to. Thank you, Kokichi.” Shuichi smiled at him and it felt like his heart melted. 

_ ‘Not today, brain. No, thank you.’  _ Kokichi thought to himself. He wanted to yell at Kaede for giving her identity away. That was one of the biggest rules they had, but it also wasn’t her fault.

“Be careful when you’re talking about D.I.C.E with her, she might be sensitive or something.” Kokichi tried to lie. 

“Yeah, I don’t know. I won’t bring anything up about it for a while.” Shuichi thought for a second, “Aren’t you a fan of D.I.C.E, what do you think?” 

“Oh uh…” He couldn’t think of something to say, “Honestly she could be Ace. Their hair is the same.” 

_ ‘I meant to convince him Ace WASN’T Kaede, not convince him she was!’  _ He wanted to punch himself. 

“That’s what I was thinking. I really hope it’s not her, though.” Shuichi yawned, “I’m kinda tired, I should be getting home.” 

“You could stay here?” Kokichi offered without thinking. 

“Well, my apartment is right down the hall-” 

“You just said you were tired. It’s not a problem if you stay here.” His eyes widened, again. Tonight was full of surprises, he didn’t think Kaede’s identity would be revealed AND his crush would be sleeping in his house. 

“Oh, yeah. If you have room for me..” 

“You can stay in my room!”  _ ‘No, he can’t, you idiot! You have D.I.C.E stuff in there!’  _ His brain kept saying the opposite of what he was trying to say. 

“Let me clean it up, I have some clothes on the floor. I’ll be right back.” He ran and hid anything Shuichi could use to identify himself as a member of D.I.C.E. He stared at Joker’s phone and noticed a message on it. 

He noticed the contact names, _ ‘Miu Iruma and Kaede????? Just who is Joker???’  _ He continued to read the notifications, “And they’re talking about me!?” He was a little hurt they were talking about him crying, but who is Joker? If he knows Kaede and Miu he must go to their school, what if he knows him??

He hid the phone under the mattress. He decided he would deal with it later. 

“Okay~! The room is clean, Shumai!” He called to him, “I usually don’t let anyone in my room, so be grateful!” 

Shuichi smiled, “Thank you for letting me stay over, I hope it’s not a problem.” 

“I didn’t mean that literally, god..” Kokichi groaned, “You’re welcome though.” He sat in the desk chair and faced it towards Shuichi, 

“Soo! Do you have a crush on anyone? C’mon, you know I have a crush, I should at least know yours!” 

Shuichi gasped and his face turned red, “I don’t have a crush on anyone.” 

“Sure, you don’t~” Kokichi teased, “Your reaction says otherwise!” 

“I seriously don’t! I’m too busy with work to be in a relationship. I would just mess it up or something.” Shuichi seemed to be a little upset by it. He felt bad, probably because he didn’t have a crush but the thought of Shuichi assuming he’d just mess up a relationship, that made him sad. 

“Have you ever even been in a relationship before?” Kokichi spun around in the chair. 

“Um...me and Kaede dated each other for like a week in 6th grade?” It looked like he hadn’t thought about that in a long time. 

“Oh my god! Shuichi you turned her gay!” He laughed, trying not to wake Iruma up. 

“Did I? I didn’t think I was that terrible…” 

“I don’t know. Honestly, you were probably the last boy she dated. She might still be interested in dudes, we just know she likes girls, too.” 

“That’s a good point…” 

The atmosphere turned a bit awkward, but they soon picked up another conversation. It reminded him of back when there were in High School together. Back when their principal was crazy and they would laugh behind his back about his funny name. When they would study together every week. When Kokichi dreamed about dating him…

Well, he still did. Regardless, it reminded him of old times and he loved it. 

He laid down next to Shuichi, “Are you sure it’s ok? I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. I can sleep on the couch.” 

“No, it’s ok.” Shuichi turned over and fell asleep almost instantly. 

It took him a while. He couldn’t believe he was actually sleeping in the same bed as his crush. 

~

Shuichi woke up cuddled against...Kokichi? He frantically looked around the room and realized it definitely wasn’t his. 

He stood up and tried not to wake Kokichi up. He actually looked peaceful sleeping and not like some crazy weird gremlin thing. He walked out and was met face to face with...Iruma. Walking around in her bra. 

“Oh...well, I didn’t think we had guests over, uh.” Iruma looked awkward. Shuichi covered his eyes, “I’m sorry, I’ll just uh..go.” 

He gathered his stuff and left, trying to avoid Iruma in the process.

Shuichi set his keys down on the bar next to the door and found Kaede looking through cabinets and drawers. He stared at her before finally asking what she was doing, “Hey, is everything ok? You look a little...stressed out.” 

Kaede turned around and gasped at the sight of Shuichi, “Oh my god, you didn’t leave me!” It looked like she had tears in her eyes when she hugged him. He was surprised. 

“You thought I left you?” He scratched his head, “Why would I do that?” 

“I was worried you didn’t like me after finding out I was attracted to girls or something. I know that’s not what you’re like but when I couldn’t find you and I couldn’t find a note from you, I freaked out.” She explained, still frantic. 

Shuichi realized it was really easy to assume he hated her after he left with no warning, “I’m so sorry. Kokichi...needed something so I went over to help.” He bit his lip. He hated lying. 

“Yeah, that makes sense. I just wish you would’ve left a note.” She mumbled and stood behind the bar, resting her head on the surface. She still seemed sad. 

Shuichi frowned, “I forgot. I had to leave in a hurry.” He was getting uncomfortable with all the lying, and it was weird to think he was face to face with someone he had been hunting for a long time. It was weird he knew she was Ace. He was still having trouble processing it. 

“Yeah, I understand! Just make sure I know you don’t hate me next time, ok?” She grinned, her mood changed. 

He checked his watch, “Oh crap! I have to get ready for work and pick Kokichi up.” 

“Are you taking him with you?” Kaede looked curious, “Did he get a job? ...finally?” 

“No, it’s nothing like that! I offered to take him with me because we barely see each other anymore and you know how we used to be close. I felt bad.” 

She nodded, “Yeah! You two used to study together and everything. I swear me and Rantaro used to think you guys were dating!” She laughed. 

Shuichi smiled, “A lot of people did, actually. We got asked about it a lot.” He looked away from her. 

“Did you ever think about dating him?” 

“Um...yeah actually. But I was so busy trying to get into a good college and with my internship that I decided it wouldn’t be a good idea.” He looked a little uncomfortable. 

“Really!? Wow. I guess you have to do what’s best for you but you guys would’ve been cute together..” 

The conversation ended and Shuichi left to get ready for work. He was ready to go get Kokichi when the door opened by itself. 

“Good morning, Shumai~!” Kokichi smiled and held his hands behind his head. He looked excited, “So what are we gonna do today? Solve some murders?” 

Shuichi laughed and closed the door behind him, “Actually I get assigned all the D.I.C.E cases so hopefully you’ll enjoy it.” 

Kokichi hopped after him, “Yeah! You know how much I loveeeee D.I.C.E!”

“Please be appropriate. I don’t want to lose my job.” Shuichi held his bag close to himself on the bus. He looked nervous, almost as if he regretted inviting Kokichi. 

“C’mon! You know I wouldn’t do that!” 

“You gave Kaede so much anxiety she makes me go to the grocery store now, Kokichi.” 

Kokichi actually felt kind of bad, “Well...that’s on her! Plus that little kid was snooping.” He crossed his arms, “It reminded me of Kaito. It was annoying.” 

Shuichi opened the door for the shorter boy and let him in. 

He started to wave at Maki but she stared Kokichi down, practically ignoring Shuichi, “I didn’t know it was ‘bring a bitch’ to work day.” She spat out insult after insult upon seeing him. 

Kokichi laughed at every single one, “Well I really didn’t think they’d accept a criminal such as yourself for a job like this!” He smiled, mocking her. 

“You better shut up before I choke you right here, right now. I’m not afraid of you.” She sighed, “Shuichi sign in and leave before I kick your dog out.” 

Shuichi frowned. He didn’t know there was some sort of weird tension between Maki and Kokichi, “What was that about?” He asked, looking behind his shoulder at Maki staring them down. 

“Oh, you know, we’re just old friends with a complicated past.” Kokichi smiled, it seemed like he enjoyed it, “Remember when you took that punch for me in high school? Yeah, that wasn’t the only time she tried to fight me and it certainly wasn’t the first time we had met.” 

Shuichi just nodded. He remembered he actually had work to do today and decided they would stop by Kirigiri’s office to see if he needed to pick up a case. The blinds were closed but the light was on. He knew that if the light was off, he couldn’t enter but it was on sooo. 

He opened the door and gasped. 

“Celestia! Stop...be quiet..” Kirigiri was pushed up against the desk. 

“O-Oh! Is this a bad time…” Shuichi covered his face in embarrassment, for the second time that day. Kokichi sighed, frustrated. 

“Mom, What the fuck?!” 

“Mom?!” Kirigiri and Shuichi said, clearly confused. 

Celestia growled, upset that she was interrupted and upset at Kokichi, “Don’t call me mom, you know I hate it.”

Kokichi laughed, “That was the point!” 

Shuichi looked like he wanted to die, “So if there aren’t any cases for me, I’ll just go…” 

Kirigiri got off the desk, “Wait! I Actually, I wanted to ask you about this,” She pulled out her personal phone and showed him a video. It was a video of him pinning King up against the tree, but whoever recorded it cut out the actual context of the event. 

“Um, what about it?” He bit his lip, anxiously. 

Kokichi looked away from all of them. Shuichi looked nervous. 

“Didn’t you say you went to walk in the park the other day? Did you see this?” She put the phone away and crossed her arms. 

“Yeah, I took a walk while stressed but I didn’t see anything like that.” 

Kokichi loudly sighed, “Man, I really wish I was King in that situation.” 

“Kokichi, shut up. She didn’t ask for your input.” Celestia was annoyed. Definitely annoyed. 

“Yeah, we’ll just be going.” He grabbed Kokichi and left the office. 

“I didn’t know you were related to Celestia?” Shuichi let go of him. 

“I’m not.” He bit the nails on his fingers, “After I lost my mom, I went to one of her friends. Which happened to be Celestia. She treats me like a younger sibling more than anything.” 

“Oh. That makes sense.” Shuichi decided not to ask about his mom, “I’m sorry you had to see...that. Celestia hangs out at our office a lot because her and Kirigiri-San are dating. No one really asks about it anymore.” 

They got to Shuichi’s little desk in the corner. He was slightly embarrassed by the coffee cups that littered the surface and the floor next to it. Today was just a day for embarrassment, wasn’t it? 

Kokichi laughed, “You must be joking, right? Where’s your office like Kirigiri?” 

“This is it..” 

“Oh.” 

Shuichi looked at it, it wasn’t that bad right? It was an old school desk they had repurposed for him. It was surrounded by cardboard walls and the computer was a little cracked, sure, but at least he had something. 

“How much do you do for this shithole?” He asked, messing with the cardboard and the computer. 

“Um, well I solve a majority, if not all of the D.I.C.E cases. I also do-“ 

Kokichi crossed his arms, “You’re telling me you are the one behind all those cases even getting closed and they give you this? What does Kirigiri do? Make calls and have meetings? Sure, an office for her is important but you do most of the work around here, is what it sounds like!” 

He turned and faced the rest of the open office, “Hey guys! I’m the leader of D.I.C.E!” He yelled. 

Shuichi panicked, “don’t do that!” 

“Look!” He pointed, “No one cared! Are they seriously the detectives that we rely on? It’s more like we rely on you, Shumai. And I’m not saying that because you’re my beloved.” He sounded back to his normal self at the end. 

The blood rushed to his face, it wasn’t like him to give out compliments like that. He appreciated it. 

“I’m not even that good of a detective..” 

“Please. If these ‘senior detectives’” He mocked them, “Can’t solve something as easy as vandalism and petty theft, why are they here? I’m serious when I say it sounds like the public relies on you” 

“The public relies on D.I.C.E. They’re the ones giving power to the people and giving them hope to fix their government.” Shuichi commented. 

“Hey! I’ve never heard you talk about D.I.C.E like that!” Kokichi looked excited, “Are you a fan now, too!” 

He scratched his head, “Something like that. I learned a little more about them and I’m a little hesitant to solve these cases. The government does need a little work. We run this way so that the people are able to make suggestions and amend the things that need changing, but right now it seems the government wants nothing to do with the people.” 

Kokichi fell harder in love. He believed in the exact same things he did! It’s why he started D.I.C.E in the first place. He considered telling him right then and there but...no. He needed to keep it a secret. 

“Yeah! That’s why I love D.I.C.E. They’re doing their stuff for a good cause. I even got this scarf because I really like King..” Kokichi messed with the scarf around his neck, “I wish I could become a member but..you know how I am with responsibilities!” He grinned. 

Shuichi smiled, “Wanna help me solve some D.I.C.E cases today?” 

“Of course I do, Shumai! Don’t blame me if a case goes missing though~” 

He sighed, “Don't get me in trouble, I already asked you once.” 

~

Kokichi draped himself over the couch and sighed. He was happy. Happy he got to spend the day with Shuichi and even happier he got to talk about D.I.C.E. 

He never knew that Shuichi secretly liked D.I.C.E. Maybe like was too far but he didn’t think they were criminals. He was glad he had educated himself. 

Truly, he didn’t mean to do anything bad or illegal but when it comes down to it, people need to have a say in their government’s decisions. The amount of people who actually do is not a lot.

His main goal was to give power to the people, to give them hope. He didn’t want to shit on the government but well...if he has to shit on the government in the process he will. 

Iruma walked out of her room, a cup in her hand, “I didn’t know Shuichi was your boy-toy? Let alone you fucked him when you were upset.”

“Please! You can’t say anything. Kiibo, remember?” 

“Yeah well, your boyfriend saw me in my bra this morning so thanks for the warning.” 

Kokichi laughed, “Serves you right for telling everyone I was crying.” 

“What? How did you know about that?” 

“Shuichi told me, he is my boyfriend after all!” Kokichi mocked her.

“Liar. He doesn’t have his phone, did you forget?” Iruma rolled her eyes, “You’ve gotten bad at lying ever since you started hanging around Shuichi, again. Do you have a soft spot for him?” 

“No! It’s not like that. I meant to say Kaede..” He turned away from her. As long as she didn’t see his face, she couldn’t tell he was lying, right? 

“Whatever you say. But I know the truth.” 

“You know that I’m-“ 

“That you have a crush on Shuichi!” She interrupted him. He gave a sigh of relief and then realized what she said. 

“Who told you?!” He looked like he was going to fight her.

“Piano bitch. Or geek. Whatever they call her,” She waved her hand in front of her face, “It’s not important. What’s important is that you were crying over someone as dumb as Shuichi, begging for him to love you back. If you’re that desperate just go hire someone.” 

“He’s not dumb!” Kokichi shot back, “He’s really smart and his eyes are really pretty and-“ 

“What does his eyes have anything to do with what we’re talking about?” 

“They don’t but that’s not the point!” Kokichi actually looked upset, “Don’t call him dumb. The whole detective agency relies on him!” 

“What are you, kidding? He’s just an intern?” Iruma laughed. 

“You realize he solves all of the D.I.C.E cases and the agency takes all the credit? HPDA shouldn't be credited, Shuichi fucking Saihara should be.” He was definitely upset. 

Iruma didn’t know what to say. She planned to tease him but it looked like he took everything she said seriously. 

Kokichi sighed, “I’m going to my room. You can’t do whatever, just don’t bother me.” 

The door slammed behind him. 

Kokichi threw himself on the bed. He was upset at Iruma but he didn’t feel like yelling. He had a good day, why would she ruin it? Why would Kaede reveal her identity AND tell Iruma he had a crush on Shuichi?

Does she do it for laughs? No. She has better things to gain than that and she never even liked to gossip that much. 

She didn’t mean to reveal her identity, he can’t be mad at her for that. As far as he knew she meant to tell Iruma, so he could totally get mad at her for that. 

Joker’s phone rang on his bedside table and Kokichi fell off the bed. He forgot he even moved it out from under the mattress, it startled him.

He looked at the contact name, “...Uncle Makoto?” He answered it. 

“Heyyyyy! I hope you’re doing good at your internship. I know it sucks. She’s the worst.” 

“Who are you?” 

“I’m...your uncle? Makoto Naegi?” 

“Um..ok. Who is she?”

“Y’know, my old friend? Kyoko? She’s literally your boss? Have you been showing up to work?” 

“Are you drunk?” Kokichi asked. 

“Haha! How’d you guess?” 

“It was easy! You’re always like this, and yes I do show up to work!” He lied, “What are you up to?” 

“Oh y’know, the usual.” Makoto sounded like he was avoiding saying it. 

“What’s that?” 

“....gay bars with Hajime and his boyfriend.” 

Kokichi struggled not to laugh,  _ ‘Joker is related to this????’  _

“Sorry but I uh...have to go. Work has been tough recently sooo” He tried to get off the phone ASAP, he was super curious as to who Joker was now. 

“Alright. Don’t get into too much trouble, ok?” 

He hung up and practically jumped into his desk chair. He opened the search engine and searched up the name Naegi. He didn’t find many results but he was able to trace the name to someone named Sora Saihara. It seemed like her maiden name was Naegi. 

“Where have I heard that name before..” He laughed at his own joke, “So whoever Joker is...they’re related to Shuichi!” 

He felt so smart but remembered he broke one of his own rules,  _ ‘As long no one finds out, right?’  _

~ 

Shuichi grabbed at his hair, for the one millionth time. He couldn’t help that he did it when he was nervous. No one had found his phone. “King must have it, right?” 

Kaede suggested getting him a new phone, but he was too broke for that shit. He was an intern. An  _ intern _ , honestly you could put unpaid in front of it and it would be the same. 

It stressed him to no end not having something as personal as his phone on him. “What if Makoto called? While drunk? Oh god..” 

“Kaede, we have to find my phone!” He called. 

“Didn’t you say you could handle this?” 

He totally forgot about the email. He checked it again but realized he had checked it 5 minutes ago. 

He sent them another email,  _ “Please. I need my phone back, I haven’t been able to function all afternoon, help.”  _

He stared at the screen and refreshed it until he got a response. 

_ “Sorry about that, Joker! I’ll talk to King and see if he can meet up ASAP. -Ace.”  _

He peeked out into the hallway and saw Kaede staring at her phone. He noticed the app,  _ ‘email’.  _

He went back into his room and hid. He sighed. Not only did he lose his phone but his best friend was Ace. What’s next, Kokichi is King?

In the next few minutes, he got another reply. 

_ “Meet me at our spot in the park ;)”  _

“I’m going to get my phone! I’ll be back!” He rushed out the door. 

Kaede sat down at the table, “Hm. That’s weird that they lost their phones at the same time.” 

She was scrolling through her social media feed when a video popped up. It was tagged with D.I.C.E. She watched it. 

Joker pushed King up against a tree. “Oh that’s cool.” She kept scrolling. “WaiT” 

She watched it again...and again...again...again. Probably a million times. 

“This isn’t fake. It’s not cosplay. That’s Kokichi and whoever Joker is. Oh my god.” Kaede slammed her head on the table. 

She texted Kokichi a picture, 

_ “Wtf is this?? Are you two dating??”  _

_ “Yep! Be jealous :p”  _

Kaede watched the video again and noticed King grab the phone out of his pocket and slip it into his own as Joker was leaning in. The phone looked like Shuichi’s.

“He’s scary good at that..” She also noticed the height, and the hair color.

_ “Why didn’t you tell me??”  _ She texted him back. 

_ “You believed that. Wow.”  _

_ “Hey, can I ask you something?”  _

_ “Sure, just make sure Shuichi doesn’t see it if it’s about D.I.C.E.”  _

_ “What do you mean?”  _

_ “Kaede...he heard you talking about your identity. He knows you’re Ace.”  _ She dropped her phone. “Fuck.” 

~

Kokichi held the phone tight in his hand and hummed as he strolled down the street. It was nice, being some famous vigilante that was known all across the country. 

He spotted Joker in the park and called out to him, “Heyy! Joker, over here!” 

“I can’t believe you took my phone, give it back!” He reached for it but was too slow. 

“What if we play a game first?” Kokichi teased him.

“No.” Joker grabbed the phone. “It’s been lost for a whole week. A WEEK! Do you know how stressed I’ve been? Very stressed.”

“Oh well! That’s on you for not noticing. Also it’s been missing for like three days.” He seemed to be enjoying this. 

“By the way, your uncle called. I don’t know how you put up with him.” Kokichi shrugged, “He was annoying and drunk. I told him you were busy.” 

Joker stopped dead in his tracks and Kokichi felt like throwing him off his guard. 

“And I know you’re related to Shuichi Saihara” 

Joker sighed, “I don’t know who that is.” 

“You..don’t? But..?” He stopped for a second and reviewed the information he had. Naegi was related to Shuichi in some sort of way. 

“Uncle Makoto mentioned his name, though? He said Shuichi was missing you.” 

“Do you even know who Shuichi is?” 

“Um…” Kokichi stopped. It would reveal his identity. “Haha! I was just trying to get you. I have no idea who Makoto is but your uncle did call.” 

Joker seemed like he was annoyed, “God. I didn’t sign up for this.” 

“I think you did!” Kokichi teased again, “Remember to read the fine print!” 

He crossed his arms, “What are you gonna take from me this time? Want me to just give you something?” 

“That would be a lot easier.” He smiled underneath his mask. 

“Here.” He held out his hand and gave him..an orange. “Have fun with that.” 

“What am I supposed to do with this? A dagger, that was fun to play with. A chain? Fun to wear. And your phone was fun to guess the password on. What do I do? Eat this?” 

“That's um..kind of the point?” 

Kokichi sighed, “You’re no fun today! I wish I kept your phone.” 

“I would’ve filed a report on you for theft.” 

“You wouldn’t! I’m the leader of an evil organization!” 

“I don’t know. It’s kinda illegal to steal my phone, not sure how your organization would help with that.” Joker seemed to smile under his mask. 

Kokichi enjoyed interacting with him. It was fun, and he actually joked back. Kaede was way too serious for his tastes. 

Joker sat down, “Speaking of, we’re still doing that hospital protest, right?” 

“Yeah..” King thought for a second, “If I can remember correctly, that’s tomorrow.” 

“Oh crap! It is?” 

“Yep! You’re pretty forgetful but I guess the name ‘Joker’ implies that.” 

“Yeah well you’re pretty childish for a ‘king’” He shot back. 

“I can’t believe you would hurt my feelings like that!” He fake cried. Joker grabbed his arm and told him to stop, “We’re in public. Don’t do that.” 

“Lest you forget, my fans love it when I do that!” 

“Do they? Or do they feel bad for you?” 

Kokichi pouted, “They love it!” 

They got distracted and talked on the park bench again. Occasionally fans would come up and ask who Joker was. Kokichi had to tell them to be patient. 

He realized he liked Joker. Not like that! He just really wanted to be a friend of his. He wanted to know who he really was, he wanted to.. 

_ ‘Shut up, Kokichi. You’ve already broken almost all of your own rules. It’s better if you don’t know anything about them. That’s why it’s a rule in the first place.’  _

“Have you...ever thought about knowing who we are?” Joker asked. It’s almost as if he was reading his mind. 

“Of course I have, dummy! Why do you think that’s a rule?” Kokichi hissed.

“Have you ever kicked someone out for knowing their identity?” It looked like Joker was staring into space. 

“No. Because we follow rules!” Kokichi stopped, “Except for Ace. She found out my identity by accident and I forced her to join D.I.C.E. She actually was really helpful and didn’t give me much trouble about it. I told her she could leave so many times and she..stayed.” 

“How did you two meet?” He asked. 

“Oh. I saved her from a burning building!” 

“Wait, that was 2 years ago when the fire department failed to show up to the shopping mall, right? D.I.C.E showed up instead and the firemen were criticised for not taking their jobs seriously.” 

Kokichi smiled, “You sure do know your D.I.C.E history, don’t you? What are you, a fanboy?” 

“Well..yeah something like that.” Joker laughed, awkwardly. He was awkward a lot, “Anyway, was Ace in that building?” 

“Yeah! She was shopping with a couple of her friends, I think she was with one of her detective friends, actually.” He tried to recall the event, “She ran up to the roof, like the dumbass she is and I had to save her from falling to her death while the fire spread. I took her to an alleyway and called for medical assistance. I thought she had passed out so I took my mask off but she was more than conscious.” 

Joker nodded, “Yeah. But how did you convince her to join?” 

“Well she happens to be someone I also know in my personal life! I blackmailed her until she joined!” He sounded proud of himself but Joker groaned.

“So she was forced into this?” 

“Remember! I’ve told her she could leave...a lot.” Kokichi got sad for a second, “I really appreciate her for helping me. I don’t know where we would be without her. She does so much for D.I.C.E. She’s the brains behind everything, I’m just the one who carries out actions.” 

“Oh…” Joker coughed, trying to change the subject. He didn’t want to make it sad or something, “So when will I get to find out who’s behind that mask?”

“Probably never!” Kokichi flicked his forehead, “It’s nothing personal but we need to keep our identities secret. If one of us was caught by the police, they could rat out our whole organization! We would be doomed.” 

Joker nodded, “Yeah. That’s why you guys wear masks.” 

“You’re so smart, wow!” Kokichi rolled his eyes under his mask.

It got quiet for a second but Joker broke the silence, “So...do you want to be friends or something?” 

“Of course not! Who do you think I am??” 

Joker looked away from him, “Oh...I’m sorry, I-” 

“I want to be friends, oh my god. You take me too seriously.” He laughed. 

He sighed, “I don’t take you seriously, you’re good at acting.” Joker leaned back in the seat, “We should hang out more.”

“Well, not only do we have identities to keep secret, but we have our own lives. I would love to hang out with you all the time but I have school and stuff..” 

“You go to school?” Joker sounded surprised, “I really thought you would be like a NEET or something”

“Seriously?? Do you think I’m not smart enough to go to college or something?” 

“No, I just thought you would be too busy or..not want to go.” Joker scratched his head, “I didn’t think you would care, that’s all.” 

Kokichi nodded, “Yeah, I’m a freshman in college. I wouldn’t be here if my crush didn’t help me.”

“Oh, that’s a coincidence. I’m also a freshman...” Joker’s sentence trailed off. 

“What if we went to school together?” They said at the same time. Then it got awkward. 

“Am I allowed to ask what you major in?” Joker asked. 

“Psychology. You have to tell me yours.” He crossed his arms.

“I’m majoring in criminal justice.” He laughed awkwardly. “I know it’s weird I’m a part of a group of vigilantes. I chose my major based on what I want to do.” 

“And what’s that?” Kokichi scooted closer to him, curious. 

“Ah. I want to be a detective.” He scratched at his head. 

“Wow, really! Someone I know is working as an intern at the detectives agency. He’s really good at what he does and doesn’t get enough credit for what they do.” He sounded actually angry when he talked about it. 

“Oh, what’s their name?” Joker questioned. 

“Sh- wait I see what you’re doing! Not fair. You tried to trick me!” Kokichi stuck a finger in Joker’s face. 

“I was just trying to conversate, I swear I wasn’t trying to trick you...kinda.” He laughed.

“Well I promise it won’t happen again, I’m too smart for that and I know your tricks now,” Kokichi turned away from him with his arms crossed. 

Joker laughed, “You seem pretty happy when you talk about him. Do you have a crush?” 

“Sure. You could say that.” Kokichi playfully pushed Joker, “Don’t go telling anyone that! Do you know how many girls I’d disappoint? A lot. Probably all of Japan!” 

“You’re really confident, are you?” 

“Only around you. You seem familiar to me, I can’t put my finger on it.” Kokichi tapped his finger to his chin, “Wait I know, you’re trying to get me to date you!” 

“What? No I..I-“ 

“I’m kidding! You’re probably straight anyways.” He sighed. 

Joker laughed, “Yeah...I’m straight anyways.” 

“You don’t sound very sure of that.” He laughed at him, “Are you questioning or something?” 

“Yeah I think I am.” 

_ ‘Oh shit.’  _ Kokichi gasped quietly, “Are you serious?” 

Joker looked away, “Yeah. I dated a girl once. I think I still like girls but I might date a guy to see what it’s like.” 

The atmosphere turned awkward. Kokichi had figured out his sexuality a while ago but it seemed like Joker needed help. 

“We could...kiss?” He offered, “Maybe that could help you figure it out?” He was joking of course. 

“What?? Really?” Joker looked antsy. 

King laughed, “I’m joking!” 

_ ‘Did he think I was serious? Did he really want to kiss me?’  _ He got lost in his thoughts and didn’t realize Joker was trying to move on from their...weird interaction.

Kokichi smiled underneath his mask. He felt giddy, talking with Joker was just so easy...it felt natural. He felt comfortable with Joker and was glad he decided to become a member of D.I.C.E. He actually turned out to be useful! And fun. He was very fun to mess with.

It felt nice. It was nice to talk to someone, even if it was behind a mask...and not about personal things. 

~

Shuichi smiled, not only did he get his phone back but he was able to hang out with King. He waved to Kaede and immediately checked his phone. 

“Oh fucK” Shuichi stared at the call log, Makoto was at the top of the list. He immediately pressed the call button, 

“Uncle Makoto, what are you doing??” 

“Ugh...hey Shuichi. I drank too much again and I’m laying down. Didn’t we talk earlier?” 

“My phone has been missing. I haven’t had it for like 3 days.” 

“Who did I talk to, then?” 

“Ki- I mean, I can’t tell you, but it wasn’t me.” 

“That’s embarrassing.” Makoto seemed to actually be embarrassed. 

“Did you say something weird?” 

“Uh, I think we talked about gay bars?” 

Shuichi sighed, “You’re so embarrassing. I have to go apologize to him now.” 

“Who is him? Is it your new boyfriend or something?” Makoto laughed. 

“No! It’s not like that. He’s just a friend..” Shuichi seemed to be avoiding the answer. 

“I see. My bad for assuming. Anyway, I’ll leave you alone for now. I’m glad that you got your phone back, kid. Say Hi to Kyoko for me! I might come by next week or something to visit.” 

“Wait! Did you talk about Kyoko? Did you mention her at all?” 

“I might have but I don’t remember.” Makoto paused, “Why? Is it important?” 

“...Uh..no it’s ok.” Shuichi smiled, “Thanks, Uncle. I’ll see you later.” He hung up and held the phone close to his chest. 

It felt like his heart was cramping, was it what Makoto asked? About King being his boyfriend? Why did he feel like this? 

_ ‘Did...Do I like him?’  _ Shuichi felt like he was going to pass out,  _ ‘I don’t like him. He’s a criminal and I’m a detective. He’s the one I’m chasing after.’  _

He felt like asking Kaede, he called her name without thinking but ran out of his room trying to find her instead. 

She sat at the table, it looked like she was studying. “What’s up? Did Makoto say something weird, again?” She tapped the pencil on the wood, smiling. 

“Kaede I...I think I have a crush on King. I like boys.” He panicked and it looked like he was going to faint. 

She laughed, “You don’t even know him! It’s almost like crushing on a fictional character.” She realized the look on his face and stopped. She stood up and helped him sit down, “Are you ok? You’re serious about this, aren’t you?” 

He slammed his head on the table, “I can’t do this, Kaede. This is too much for me. I’ve never felt like this, I feel like I’m going to die.” Shuichi looked up, “I’m just being dramatic, aren’t I?” 

“Shuichi...your feelings are valid but I don’t understand? I thought you didn’t like D.I.C.E?” 

He gasped,  _ ‘She doesn’t know, fuck.’  _ Shuichi grabbed his hair and tried to pull it out of his head. It hurt but he kept doing it, it helped him not focus on his feelings. Kaede grabbed his hands, 

“Are you ok? Do you need to lay down or talk? What do you need?” She sat down next to him, “I need you to explain what’s happening to me. I can see you’re having trouble.” 

Shuichi shook his head and stood up, “No. I just need to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow, Kaede.” 

Kaede stared at him as he walked to his room. He looked like he was struggling to have enough energy to do even that. Whatever he was talking about, which she could gather that he figured out he liked boys and that he had a crush on King, was really affecting him emotionally. 

_ ‘He’s never even met King before, though?’  _

She stared at the video of Joker pinning King to the tree on her phone. She saved it and had been analyzing it all day. Something about it was bothering her. 

The phone. Joker and Shuichi lost their phones at the same time, and it looked like the same phone. The jeans, didn’t he own those, too? 

She zoomed it in and caught a glimpse of the side of Joker’s face. 

“It’s him.” She gasped, “Joker is Shuichi.” 

She played the video again. It was definitely Shuichi. Their hair was the same, too. 

She couldn’t help but laugh, how could she not guess it sooner? She felt a little dumb considering he was one of her best friends. 

She decided she wouldn’t talk to him about it right now, it would make him feel worse. She smiled at her phone, “Guess I’ll see him tomorrow at the protest then, huh?” 

~

Shuichi grabbed his mask and covered his face with it. He was glad no one would be able to see how shitty he looked. 

He dreaded seeing King. He liked him, way too much for his own good. He hadn’t even realized until Makoto asked if he was his boyfriend and his heart skipped a beat. He wanted to say yes. He wanted to be able to say “King is mine, we’re dating and we’re happy together” but that was quite the opposite of what actually happened. 

He put a sweatshirt on and rode the bus to the hospital. 

King waved at him, “Hey, Joker! It’s nice to see you showed up.” He was grinning under his mask. 

“Of course I would show up! I wouldn’t sign up and not show.” He laughed, but it stung, “You talked to my uncle, right? I’m sorry he was so weird.” 

He laughed, “It’s ok. Honestly I deserved it, I was snooping.” 

Shuichi nodded, “So what do we do? Do we just hold signs and wait?” 

“Pretty much. If someone tries to stop us, it’s our right to peacefully protest. If hospital workers want to join in, we let them. We wait until it gets dark or the hospital addresses the situation and fixes it.” King gave him a thumbs up, “This is one of the easier things we’ll do! You just have to sit and wait. If it gets violent, protect citizens and passerbys. Never once has D.I.C.E been violent so don’t worry about charges being pressed against us.” 

He nodded again, “Yeah it seems easy enough.” Ace waved from behind King. 

“Hey, guys! I’m glad to see you both showed up and didn’t forget.” She smiled, “I’m also glad you guys didn’t get busy making out or something” 

“What do you mean?” King sounded kind of offended. 

“Haven’t you seen the video circling the internet? You two are pressed up against a tree together.” She pulled her phone out and showed them. 

They were both embarrassed, “That’s not what happened!” Shuichi tried to defend himself, “I was trying to steal the fabric, I swear!”

Ace laughed, “Sure, whatever you say!” She teased, “It’s honestly just funny to mess with you guys.” She pulled a megaphone out from behind her back, “Now are we going to get started or what? We have a protest to pull off!” 

She sounded excited about it. It made sense that she was Kaede, and he was starting to see how important she really was to D.I.C.E. King was right, If she wanted to leave she would have, so she must see them as her family of sorts, right? 

He decided he would confront her. Not now, but after the protest was over. That would work, right? 

He nodded to himself,  _ ‘Yeah. Then I won’t be holding all the secrets. I can finally keep up with myself.’  _

He walked with Ace to the front steps of the Hospital. He stood with her and King. 

Lots of other people with masks and checkered cloths showed up, and he means  _ lots _ . Like he said, there were more members of D.I.C.E then he thought there was. 

Everyone cheered at the sight of their leader, Ace held the megaphone up to her mouth and started speaking, 

“Hello and welcome to our latest protest! Today D.I.C.E will be protesting the doctors of this very hospital refusing to care for their patients because they can’t pay. Everyone deserves care when they are sick, regardless if they have the money to or not. People have died because of this and we cannot let it stand.” She waited for a bit, “We’ll be waiting here until the hospital addresses the situation themselves or it gets dark outside. You can conversate with each other but remember we’re here to change the way this hospital runs!” Ace smiled under her mask and passed the megaphone to Joker.

He was shocked, “Wait I have to speak?” 

“Yeah! You’re our newest member after all, the public has to know who you are.” 

Shuichi fumbled with it but finally figured out how it worked, “Uh, Hi? I’m Joker…” He turned to King, “What do I say?” He whispered. 

King laughed, “Whatever you want. When I introduced myself I called them all pussies.” 

“And they still listen to you?” 

“Uh yeah? I’m their leader.” 

Shuichi turned back to the microphone, “I just joined D.I.C.E so this will be my first real event with you guys. I’m really excited and I hope you guys don’t hate me ok bye.” He shoved it back in Ace’s hand and faced away from the crowd, embarrassed. 

King patted him on the back, “At least you didn’t pass out or something!” 

He covered his face, “You’re making it worse.” 

Shuichi stood with King and Ace the whole time. It was weird. He knew that they were like famous but he didn’t expect that people would actually like him. He kept getting younger girls and even some boys asking him for an autograph or something, some of them wanted pictures, too. 

The hospital never addressed them directly but a lot of nurses and even some doctors came out and held signs with them. 

One girl walked out with choppy purple hair and her arms all bandaged up. She looked confident for a second and then she made eye contact with Joker and looked like she regretted all her life choices. She kept walking up to him, though. 

He smiled at her, “Hi! Do you work at this hospital?” 

“Y-Yeah. I’m a nurse…” She spoke quietly, “I want...to help. I don’t agree with...with what they’re doing.” She looked like she wanted to leave. 

Shuichi tried to be as nice to her as he could so she felt comfortable. He handed her a sign, “What’s your name?” 

“M-Mikan Tsumiki.” 

Ace looked over at her, “Wait! I know you!” She looked like she scared the girl, “One of my friends went to school with you and we met like once. Her name is Ibuki I think.” 

She struck up a conversation with Mikan and stood with them through the whole protest. 

King didn’t do a lot, sometimes he flipped off people who yelled at them or harassed them for protesting. He did a lot of screaming. Shuichi was surprised he still had his voice. 

An older guy came up to King and tried to grab the sign from him and rip it up. King moved away from him and flipped him off, “Let me guess, you think people don’t deserve to get treated decently.” 

The man laughed and tried to fight King on the topic but King was clearly more educated. It was kind of funny to watch all of it go down. 

Shuichi felt bad for trying to expose D.I.C.E. They’re literally making sure the public has the rights they deserve, why does Kirigiri want them to be locked up so bad? 

It got dark and people started to pack up and leave. Ace said goodbye to both of them and walked away. 

Shuichi thanked King for letting him protest with them and King thanked him for being serious about it. After he left, Shuichi quickly followed Ace and dragged her into an alley. 

She screamed, “Wait! It’s just me, Joker.” 

“What the fuck!” She pushed him off, “What are you doing?” 

“I know who you are.” He stared at her. 

She laughed, “I doubt that. Now I need to get ho-” He grabbed her mask and pulled it off. 

“Good evening, Kaede.” 

She did the same to him, “You’re really bad at acting, Shuichi Saihara.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah! That was pretty intense. A lot of emotions this chapter, huh? 
> 
> I think I'll take a break from the main storyline and you guys will get to see a bit more of Kaito and Maki next chapter ;)
> 
> Also, if anyone has any suggestions for D.I.C.E's next protest/heist, let me know! Thank you all for reading :)


	6. Maki Roll

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW- Cancer 
> 
> Hey guys! Sorry I posted this chapter a little later than I wanted to. I was experiencing a littleee bit of burn out from writing 5 chapters in less than a week haha. 
> 
> This time we get to focus on Maki and Kaito’s relationship a bit more so yay! 
> 
> Also, I want to put a really big thank you to @M_o_t_h for being my beta reader. She writes such an amazing body swap AU and you guys should really go check it out!
> 
> Finally, I hope you all enjoy! Thanks for reading <3

Maki sighed and hung the phone up. Did she choose to work as a receptionist at the most boring place ever? No, she needed a job, can you blame her? 

Shuichi brought it up randomly that their receptionist quit. That should’ve been red flag number one, of course, Maki didn’t care at the time and applied for the job anyway. She got it but she was the only one who sent a resume in so…

Never the less, it paid well and she really only had to answer calls and sit at a desk all day. She got a text from Kaito, 

_ “Hey, Maki Roll! What are we doing for dinner tonight? Want me to pick something up?”  _

She smiled at her phone,  _ “I can pick something up when I get off. Do you want ramen?”  _

_ “You know it!”  _

She heard a slam on the counter and Maki looked up from her phone, “Excuse me, aren’t you supposed to be working?” An older woman with shades on looked at her annoyed, and seemed to be chewing on gum.   
  


Maki rolled her eyes, “Ma’am, please get your hands off the counter.” She stared at the lady until she put her arms by her sides, “Ok. What do you need help with?” She forced a smile. 

“I was supposed to have a meeting with...Kyoko Kirigiri at 7:30. I’ve been waiting for 30 minutes.” She popped a gum bubble loudly. 

“Ma’am, I’m sorry you’re not allowed to chew gum in here. We handle forensic evidence, we don’t want something to get ruined.” She groaned and threw her piece of gum in the trash can next to Maki. 

Maki started typing on her computer, “Ok, what’s your name?” 

“Hiyoko Saionji” She moved the sunglasses off her eyes, “Am I really disguised that well? I wouldn’t put it past a low life like you to not recognize me though.” Hiyoko mocked her. 

Maki laughed, “Yeah. A low life.” She typed her name and searched up her file, “I see. Kirigiri had to reschedule your appointment for next week because she was double booked,” She turns the screen around and pointed to the reasoning, “It says right here she gave you a call and you confirmed the appointment. Would you like me to send you a reminder next week an hour before your appointment?” Maki turned the screen back around and Hyoko scoffed, 

“I never got a call like that. I demand to see Kirigiri right now.” 

“Ma’am, I can’t do that. She’s in a meeting.” Maki reached for the phone. She dealt with people like this all the time. 

“Let me speak to her!” She slammed her heal on the ground, “No one treats me this way! I want another receptionist!” 

Maki punched Kirgiri’s number into the phone, “Kirigiri, I have a woman here demanding to see you despite the fact that you rescheduled her for next week.” 

Kirigiri audibly sighed over the phone. Maki nodded and hung it up. 

“I told you I want another receptionist! Preferably one who knows a thing or two about respect!” 

“Well, I want a client who knows a thing or two about manners,” Maki rolled her eyes at her. 

“Let me speak to your manager!” 

Maki laughed, “My manager is in a meeting.” 

Shuichi walked by and stared at the interaction, he mouthed “good luck” to Maki and left. 

Hyoko crossed her arms, “Well I want to speak to someone who knows more than you.” She looked around and spotted Shuichi trying to escape. She grabbed him and dragged him over to Maki. 

“Sir, will you explain to your receptionist that she needs to let me speak to her manager.” Hyoko tugged his sleeve. 

He looked surprised and tried to get away from her, “Um, she can’t do that. She said her manger was in a meeting.” He said, as quiet as he could, trying not to make her even more upset. 

Celestia turned the corner, “Hyoko Saionji! This lovely receptionist told you all the information you needed to know. I happen to be the manager’s manager and we would like you to leave before you cause an even bigger scene. You grabbed a detective while he was trying to leave work. We could have you arrested for assault.” 

“I don’t remember getting a call at all! I don’t handle my calls anyway!” She pouted. 

“Ma’am if you would’ve admitted that from the start, this could’ve been sorted out way easier…” Maki rubbed the bridge of her nose from behind the counter. 

Finally, after lots of intimidation and lies from Celestia, Hyoko agreed to come back next week. Maki was dreading that day. Dreading it a lot but at least it wasn’t tomorrow or something. 

She stopped by the ramen bowl shop and picked up food for both her and Kaito on her way home. She climbed up the stairs to her apartment and heard Kokichi and Iruma yelling at each other on one side of her door and on the other side she heard Kaede’s piano being played. 

She lived right in between some of her closest friends and could hear a lot...if not everything that happened. It was weird. She opened the door and was engulfed in a hug by Kaito. 

“Maki roll! I’m glad you made it home safe!” 

She smiled and patted his head, “Yeah...now please let go.” She deadpanned 

He laughed, “Sorry. You know how I get, all worried and stuff.” 

She set the bag down and pulled out the styrofoam bowls of steaming hot noodles, “I could say the same for you. I hope you didn’t overwork yourself today.”

Kaito smashed his fists together, “Fear not! Your resident luminary of the stars...sat out of training today.” 

“Good. Your doctor said you need to take it easy. Especially with your lung cancer.” Maki winced at the words. Usually, you were supposed to be really active while you’re undergoing treatment but because Kaito was overly active, it was making it worse. He had to give up training at gyms outside of school and at home workouts that he and Maki used to bond over. Their life had gotten a lot different since he got diagnosed. 

He started coughing up blood, that was the first symptom. He insisted that he was ok and that it was just because he scratched his throat up or something. Then it was the constant headaches, then sudden weight loss, and then he couldn’t breathe. 

Maki still remembered that night. They were working out and he suddenly passed out. He stopped breathing. Maki cried hysterically and called the ambulance. 

She watched as they rolled him away on a stretcher and put him in the ambulance. She watched as they wheeled him into the ICU. She sat there for hours, waiting for him to wake up. She was convinced he wouldn’t. She was convinced he was going to die that night. 

She remembered the sirens, the sound of the heart monitor, and Kaito’s cold body on the floor of their apartment. She remembered it all too well. 

That was a few months ago. Ever since then he’s been undergoing treatment and it’s been increasingly stressful for her. She had a job of her own, she couldn’t be with him all the time to make sure he was being careful on his body. Or to make sure he was taking his medicine the right way. 

And he was trying to become an astronaut. He did too much, his body needed a break. Lucky for him, his teachers were very nice about it and are letting him study for the trainee program without going through all the intense physical stuff...with a little convincing from Maki. 

Kaito sat down at the table and opened his bowl, “You remembered what I like! You’re the best Maki roll!” He gave her a thumbs up and flashed that stupid grin of his. 

“Of course I did, Idiot.” She covered her embarrassed smile with her pigtail. 

They ate together in silence with the TV on some space program Kaito enjoyed. She wanted him to experience everything that made him happy just in case...in case he couldn’t anymore. 

Maki tried to clean up Kaito’s mess for him but he insisted on doing it himself. They washed dishes together and cleaned up the kitchen a little bit. 

Kaito hugged Maki from behind, “You worry about me too much. I’m a grown man, I can take care of myself.” He whispered in her ear. 

Her face turned red but she settled into the hug. She appreciated the affection, “I worry about you because I know you don’t know when to stop, love.” 

The nickname made Kaito lock up. She thought it was funny so she used it to throw him off guard. 

Despite the couple’s unfortunate circumstances, they tried to make the best of it. Maki and Kaito tried their hardest to spend as much time with each other. They didn’t like to talk about it but they knew all too well that anything could happen, the world isn’t exactly fair. 

They put a movie on and cuddled close together. It was Friday, their designated movie night. Kaito fell asleep in Maki’s arms and she turned the movie off. She didn’t even mind or care that they didn’t get to finish it. It was the weekend which meant they could spend every single day together. 

She carried him to bed and fell asleep next to the person she would protect with her whole being, no matter the circumstance. She didn’t know how to tell him but she loved him more than she could comprehend. He made her so happy she almost wanted to cry. In a good way though. 

She woke up to the sunlight pouring in through the curtains in the window and birds chirping. It seemed like a happy morning. Like it was going to be a good day. 

She turned the TV on and noted the news anchor talking about D.I.C.E’s hospital protest on thursday and their newest member, Joker. A lot of people were already speculating his identity. She opened up the D.I.C.E fan page. The forums were full of pictures of Joker, fan fiction, letters to him, edits. 

Maki groaned, “Man, fangirls are weird.” 

She grabbed a yogurt cup from the fridge and waited for Kaito to get up. She knew it wouldn’t be for a while, that man slept like a rock. He didn’t wake up for shit. 

Maki set the stove on fire? He slept through it. Maki set his hair on fire? He still slept through it. 

She was caught off guard by the coughing from the other room. She threw her stuff down and ran to give Kaito a napkin. She knew there would be blood everywhere. 

She frowned when he just coughed in his sleep. She left the napkins on the bed side table just in case. 

Kaito grabbed her hand before she could leave. “Maki, I told you you didn’t have to worry about me.” 

“Did you cough on purpose?” She sounded annoyed. 

“No. I choked on my own spit.” He laughed, “I didn’t mean to freak you out, Maki roll.” 

Kaito pulled her closer to him, “Come back and lay down, I miss you.” 

She gave in and laid back down with him. She didn’t go to sleep, she just rested. Kaito fell back asleep while holding onto Maki. They spent the majority of their morning laying in bed. 

It left Maki to her thoughts. Her horrible, intrusive thoughts.  _ ‘What if he just died while I was asleep and I could’ve done something?’ ‘What if it’s my fault. What if he died because of me?’  _

She shook her head,  _ ‘I can’t blame myself for that. It’s not my fault he has lung cancer..’  _ But she couldn’t help but let her mind wander. What would she do when she was left alone in this apartment they used to own together? What would she do when she would be picking up one ramen bowl instead of two? What would she do when she wasn’t called Maki roll anymore? 

She didn’t want to think about it. No, she couldn’t think about it. She felt like she was going to cry and she didn’t want to deal with that. 

She held Kaito tight and didn’t let go. She didn’t want to let go, ever. She wouldn’t let go no matter what happened. 

She never thought a dumb boy would change her life as much as Kaito Momota had but who knows where she’d be without him. Probably sad and lost, still living on the streets and thinking she had no life ahead of her.

Poor baby Maki. She grew up thinking no one cared about her, so when Kaito stumbled into her life, she had another thing coming thats for sure. Another, actually good thing. 

She stared up at the ceiling and waited for Kaito to wake up. He had to have been sleeping for at least 12 hours or something. She shook him lightly, “Wake up, it’s already the afternoon and I woke up at 7 this morning.” 

He groaned, “Really? Wow! I can’t believe I slept that long.” He jumped out of the covers and put his purple slippers on, “What do we have planned for today, Maki roll?” 

She shook her head, “We can go visit Shuichi and Kaede? Otherwise I didn’t really make a plan for today. Tomorrow the planetarium opens around 2pm so we can go do that.” 

“What do you want to do though? We go to the planetarium because  _ I  _ like it but we never do anything you want to anymore. I feel bad” He chuckled a bit and smiled at her, “You don’t have to give me special treatment now. I want us to be as normal as possible.” 

She nodded, “I just don’t want...want your life to end miserably. I want you to be happy.” She held her hair and stroked it lightly. 

He cupped her hand in his, “Maki roll, I’m happy anywhere I go as long as it’s with you.” 

“Shut up, that’s so cheesy!” 

“But it’s true!” He flashed his annoying grin again, “We should go visit Shuichi today, though! I haven’t seen him in a while. 

Maki checked her phone, “Yeah! Today is his day off, too.” 

He gave an enthusiastic thumbs up as a response and ran to get his jacket on. Even though he only wore one sleeve. 

Maki smiled behind his back. Not in a malicious way, in a I’m-so-happy-I’m-here way. She watched as he jumped to put his shoes on and got ready to go visit his best friend. Er, who he considered his best friend to be. 

She walked him literally 3 feet and knocked on the door, “Hey! It’s Maki and Kaito.” She didn’t sound that enthusiastic but she was happy to be visiting them. 

Kaede opened the door, “Oh! Hey we haven’t seen you guys in forever. Not since...the hospital.” 

Maki nodded, “Yeah. It was rather unfortunate circumstances, huh?” 

She agreed, “Here! You’re welcome to come in and help yourself to whatever.” She left the door open for them to come in. 

She looked around the apartment. It was actually clean and the interior was pretty nice. They had a whole room dedicated to just Kaede’s music. Maki spotted two figures on the couch. She knew one was Saihara but the other…?

“Good afternoon, Maki roll!” She growled. Whoever called her that was not Kaito. She stared at the figure again. 

“Ouma!” She frowned at his name. “Kaito I’m going to just go.” 

She turned to the exit but he stopped her, “C’mon, Maki! We haven’t seen them in forever. It won’t be that bad.” 

She growled again and face the group, “If Ouma does something stupid I’m leaving. I don’t care.” 

Surprisingly, he didn’t do anything too bad for the rest of the day. He seemed to be pretty respectful of Maki’s wish. Was it because he knew Kaito was practically on his deathbed? Was it because Shuichi was there? 

Whatever it was, she appreciated it. And she appreciated the time she was able to spend with her friends. She left happy. Happy she was cared for. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say, I hope I did Kaito’s cancer in the most tasteful way possible. I don’t want to offend anyone but I wanted to keep his sickness. I tried to do as much research as I could! 
> 
> Thank you guys for reading! and don’t worry, we’ll be back to the regular story line next chapter :)


End file.
